In April, legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden threatened to ban TikTok in the U.S. if the platform’s China-based parent company ByteDance refused to sell to an American owner by Jan. 19, 2025, and with the deadline looming and no such sale underway, stateside fans of the popular video share site are getting nervous.
On Friday, a panel of three federal Appeals Court judges ruled unanimously to uphold the legislation, according to NBC News, saying, “We recognize that this decision has significant implications for TikTok and its users,” adding that If the platform does not divest, it “will effectively be unavailable in the United States, at least for a time.”
President-elect Donald Trump has previously stated that he would “save TikTok” if elected, and can grant a 90-day extension “based upon progress” toward the divestiture order, the opinion said.
As Vox points out in their coverage of the potential ban, “Trump has had a fickle relationship with TikTok,” adding that “his Cabinet picks are also divided on how to handle the platform,” which leaves TikTok’s future uncertain.
Thus far, ByteDance has refused to sell, although several potential buyers have expressed interest in taking it on. In legal filings, the company has spoken out against the threats made towards TikTok, saying, “For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide.”
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