The federal appeals court, which recently rejected TikTok’s bid to block its impending U.S. ban, denied the company’s request on Friday for an emergency pause of the ruling and the January 19 deadline for a sale.
Under a federal law, TikTok must either sell to a new owner or face a U.S. ban. TikTok had sought the pause to allow the Supreme Court time to decide whether to review the law. However, the D.C. Circuit judges stated that Congress deliberately set a 270-day timeline for compliance, permitting only one extension.
In their ruling, the judges noted, “The petitioners have not identified any case in which a court, after rejecting a constitutional challenge to an Act of Congress, has enjoined the Act from going into effect while review is sought in the Supreme Court.”
The Justice Department opposed TikTok’s request, emphasizing the court’s prior decision recognized the law’s critical national security basis. Neither TikTok nor the Justice Department has issued comments on the latest ruling.
The case could proceed to the Supreme Court if TikTok appeals, potentially delaying the January 19 deadline.
President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act in April, as part of a $95 billion foreign aid package. The law mandates TikTok, which has over 170 million U.S. users, to separate from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, due to national security concerns over ByteDance’s alleged ties to the Chinese government.
ByteDance denies these allegations, arguing in its lawsuit against the Justice Department that no evidence supports claims of security risks. The law has sparked significant protests from TikTok’s U.S. user base.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump, who had previously proposed banning TikTok, has since shifted his position and indicated he would reverse the ban once in office. However, any reversal would require Congressional approval.
