U.S. COURT DENIES TIKTOK’S FREEZE REQUEST

On 12/13, a federal appeals court denied TikTok's request to pause enforcement of a law requiring its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a U.S. ban starting 1/19.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that TikTok and its users failed to justify blocking the law while the company seeks Supreme Court review.

The law, passed earlier this year over national security concerns, prohibits ByteDance from maintaining ownership of TikTok in the U.S. TikTok argues that the law violates users' First Amendment rights and claims a sale would be difficult due to restrictions imposed by the Chinese government.

TikTok, which has 170 million users in the U.S., plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. A spokesperson said the law would “silence” millions of voices and reaffirmed the company’s commitment to challenging it.

The law also requires app stores like Apple and Google to stop offering TikTok if ByteDance does not divest its ownership. Lawmakers have urged TikTok’s CEO to pursue a sale to comply with the legislation, but no resolution has been reached. The Supreme Court is expected to decide soon whether to intervene.