The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a law Friday requiring Chinese internet company ByteDance either to sell TikTok or for the social media platform to be effectively banned in America.
The three-judge panel’s ruling paves the way for the law to take effect on Jan. 19, 2025.
ByteDance is TikTok’s parent company. It’s headquartered in Beijing and subject to Chinese law, which requires companies to make data available to the Chinese Communist Party.
The three judges on the appellate court panel unanimously rejected TikTok’s argument that the ban is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment rights of users of the app.
“In this case, a foreign government threatens to distort free speech on an important medium of communication. Using its hybrid commercial strategy, the [People’s Republic of China (PRC)] has positioned itself to manipulate public discourse on TikTok in order to serve its own ends,” the ruling held. “The PRC’s ability to do so is at odds with free speech fundamentals. Indeed, the First Amendment precludes a domestic government from exercising comparable control over a social media company in the United States.”
TikTok might be popular among America’s youth, but a majority of voters view it as a threat to the United States. An even higher percentage favor a federal ban on the social media platform, according to a 2023 poll from RMG Research, a polling firm led by Scott Rasmussen.
TikTok and ByteDance are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, The Associated Press reported, although it’s unclear whether the high court would take up the case.