U.S. Appeals Court Upholds Judgment Selling TikTok Before January 19

An American Federal appeals court upheld a law on Friday that requires China-based ByteDance to sell the well-known social media app TikTok next month or risk an effective ban in the US.

The unanimous decision of a three-judge U.S. S. Appeals Court in Washington, D.C. dismissed TikTok’s claim that the law is unconstitutional and infringes on the First Amendment rights of the 170 million Americans who use the app. Later on Friday, TikTok announced that it would ask The Supreme Court TO reverse the appeals court’s ruling.

Judge Douglas Ginsburg stated, “We reject each of the petitioners’ constitutional claims on the merits.”. The Act’s provisions that are rightfully before this court do not violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution or the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law; rather, they constitute an illegal bill of attainder ., as we will clarify. or engage in a Fifth Amendment violation by taking private property without compensation,” 

The law would essentially ban TikTok by requiring internet hosting companies and app store companies like Apple and Google to cease supporting the app  if ByteDance is unable to sell TikTok  by January 19.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, “Today’s ruling is a critical step in preventing the Chinese government from using TikTok as a weapon to gather private data about millions of Americans, to secretly alter the content that is shown to American audiences, and to jeopardize our national security.”.

The Department of Justice, led by the attorney general, is defending the law in the lawsuit filed by TikTok and ByteDance.

 The Act safeguards American national security in a way that is constitutionally compliant,” Garland stated. President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law in April following concerns expressed by members of Congress of both parties regarding TikTok’s purported ties to the Communist Chinese government,  TikTok is “a surveillance tool used by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on Americans and harvest highly personal data,” according to Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, in March.  Donald Trump,  has not stated if he will implement the ban when he assumes office next month.

Olumide Adesina

Financial Market Writer

Olumide Adesina is a French-born Nigerian financial writer. He tracks, analyzes, and reports changes in financial markets with over 15 years of working experience in investment trading.