TikTok has submitted a petition requesting a pause on a sale-or-ban law, after a DC Court confirmed its intention to uphold the ruling which could see the app banned in the US.
Based on national security concerns around the app's Chinese ties, the Court’s Circuit Panel announced its decision to maintain the federal law on 6 December.
In response, TikTok’s owner Bytedance has requested a temporary injunction to be able to present the law to the Supreme Court for review.
The act is slated to take effect on 19 January 2025, which TikTok said would shut down “nation’s most popular speech platforms” on the eve of Donald Trump's presidential inauguration.
“Before that happens, the Supreme Court should have an opportunity, as the only court with appellate jurisdiction over this action, to decide whether to review this exceptionally important case,” TikTok wrote in its injunction appeal.
“And an injunction is especially appropriate because it will give the incoming Administration time to determine its position – which could moot both the impending harms and the need for Supreme Court review.”
The proposed ban came after US politicians expressed increasing concerns over the app’s alleged data privacy issues.
This is because Chinese companies are legally required to share data with the country’s government if requested to do so.
TikTok has argued that a proposed ban of the app in the US would infringe upon free speech.
The company appeared before three judges at a Washington DC appeals court on 16 September to argue its case against the federal law.
Lawyers for the company said that Bytedance was not owned by China, but court judges hit back and said the business was still subject to the country’s control.
The bill to ban the use of TikTok in America was approved by the US Senate in April 2024, with Bytedance having until 9 January 2025 to respond to the new law.
This would mean either selling the social media platform, estimated to be worth more than US$50bn, or face it being blocked in the country.
TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, said the House of Representatives vote in March was “disappointing”.