TikTok Faces Urgent Supreme Court Decision

By David Shepardson and Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – TikTok must act urgently to request the Supreme Court to block or overturn a law requiring its Chinese parent, ByteDance, to divest the app by January 19. This follows a Friday appeal court rejection for more time.

On Monday, TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeking a delay to present their case to the Supreme Court.

The companies warned that without court intervention, the law would result in shutting down TikTok — a major platform with over 170 million monthly users in the U.S.

However, the court denied the request, stating that TikTok and ByteDance failed to identify any past case where a court intervened during a constitutional challenge against an Act of Congress. The unanimous court ruling emphasized this point.

Following the ruling, a TikTok spokesperson indicated plans to appeal to the Supreme Court, which has historically protected Americans' right to free speech.

Under the new law, TikTok will be prohibited unless ByteDance divests by January 19, giving the U.S. government significant authority to ban other foreign-owned apps posing data security concerns.

The U.S. Justice Department argues that Chinese control over TikTok presents a lasting national security threat. TikTok counters that the department has misrepresented its connection to China, maintaining that its recommendation algorithms and user data are secured in the U.S. via Oracle cloud servers, and moderation happens in the U.S.

If the Supreme Court does not overturn the decision, TikTok's future will hinge first on President Joe Biden's potential to extend the January 19 deadline and then on Republican President-elect Donald Trump's strategies post inauguration.

Trump, who attempted to ban TikTok in 2020, expressed prior to the November election that he would not enforce such a ban.

On the same day, the chair of a U.S. House committee on China informed the CEOs of Alphabet and Apple that they should prepare for the removal of TikTok from their U.S. app stores by January 19.