Court Ruling Brings TikTok Closer To Ban In U.S.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled on Friday, rejecting TikTok’s bid to overturn a law that mandates its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sell the app to a non-Chinese company by January 19 or face a ban.

The ruling presents a serious obstacle for the app, which has more than 170 million users in the United States. TikTok has promised to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming the regulation is unconstitutional under the First Amendment and that Chinese government constraints make it inconceivable. Lawmakers have fuelled the legislation with national security worries, pointing to possible propaganda usage and data access threats.

In the upcoming months, the case is anticipated to be heard by the Supreme Court.