- TikTok has lost its bid to overturn a law which would see it banned or sold in the US from early 2025
- The social media platform argued in the federal appeals court that the law was unconstitutional
- Their last hope will come from president elect, Donald Trump
It’s one of the biggest social media platforms in the world – but now TikTok could be facing a ban in the US.
The video streaming app has had its bid to overturn a law – which would see it banned or sold in the US from early 2025 – rejected.
The US put the motion in place because of TikTok’s owners’ alleged links to the Chinese state – which the app and parent company Bytedance have always denied.
Although TikTok had argued in the federal appeals court that the law was unconstitutional because it represented a “staggering” impact on the free speech of its 170 million US users, a decision was made to uphold the law.
The court stated the action “was the culmination of extensive, bipartisan action by the Congress and by successive presidents”.
It also agreed the law was “carefully crafted to deal only with control by a foreign adversary, and it was part of a broader effort to counter a well-substantiated national security threat posed by the PRC (People’s Republic of China).”
However, this isn’t the end of the road – as TikTok says it will now take its fight to the US Supreme Court, the country’s highest legal authority.
A spokesperson for the social media platform said in a statement, “The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue.”
They added that the law was based on “inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information” and a ban would censor US citizens.
Trump provides glimmer of hope for TikTok
While TikTok is prepared for the fight it now faces, it could be given another lifeline – Donald Trump.
Despite unsuccessfully attempting to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, he said in the run-up to the 2024 US Presidential Election that he would not allow the ban on TikTok to take effect.
Of course, Trump was victorious in November, and will be inaugurated on 20 January – the day after the law says TikTok must be banned or sold.
Although Trump’s pre-election vow has offered a glimmer of hope to TikTok, there is still a high chance that he could go back on his promise – and Professor James Grimmelmann of Cornell University said the president-elect would be “swimming upstream to give TikTok a reprieve”.
“The anti-China sentiment in the US Congress is very strong, so there are now substantial constituencies in both parties that want TikTok to be restricted from the US market,” he told BBC News.
