TikTok loses appeal against US ban law

TikTok’s bid to overturn a law which would see it banned or sold in the US from early 2025 has been rejected.
The social media company had hoped a federal appeals court would uphold its argument that the law was unconstitutional.
TikTok’s lawyers told the court in September that a ban would have a “staggering” impact on the free speech of its 170 million US users.

But the court ruled the law “was the culmination of extensive, bipartisan action by the Congress and by successive presidents.”
The law was “carefully crafted to deal only with control by a foreign adversary, and it was part of a broader effort to counter a well-substantiated national security threat posed by the PRC (People’s Republic of China),” the ruling continues.
The US wants TikTok sold or banned because of what it says are its owners links to the Chinese state – links TikTok and parent company Bytedance have always denied.
TikTok and its parent company may now choose to take their ongoing fight against the law to higher courts in the US – including to the Supreme Court, its highest authority.
Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 US Presidential Election may also present a lifeline for the app.
Despite unsuccessfully attempting to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, he said in the run-up to the November elections he would not allow the ban on TikTok to take effect.