A U.S. appellate court announced on Monday, June 17th, that it will hold oral arguments on September 16th regarding a new legal challenge against Byte Dance, a Chinese-based company, which is required to divest its TikTok U.S. assets by January 19th or face a ban.
The appellate court has mandated that TikTok creators, TikTok itself, and Byte Dance must submit legal briefs by Thursday, with the Department of Justice having to submit theirs by July 26th and reply briefs by August 15th.
TikTok and the Department of Justice have requested the appellate court to make a decision by December 6th, in order to seek a Supreme Court review if necessary.
Supporters of the legislation argue that the Chinese authorities manipulate and surveil American users through TikTok.
Concerned U.S. lawmakers fear that the Chinese government could access American data or conduct espionage through the app. The legislation was overwhelmingly passed in Congress just weeks after its proposal.
On April 24th, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the law requiring Byte Dance to sell TikTok by January 19, 2025, or face a ban. The White House stated that the move aimed to terminate Chinese ownership of TikTok on national security grounds but did not seek to ban the app itself.
The law prohibits app stores like Apple and Google’s parent company Alphabet from offering TikTok and internet hosting services from supporting it unless Byte Dance divests TikTok.
On May 7th, TikTok and its Chinese parent company, Byte Dance, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, arguing that the law violated the First Amendment protection of free speech.
In their lawsuit, TikTok and Byte Dance claimed that a divestment is “completely impossible – commercially, technically, legally… There is no doubt: the law will force TikTok to shut down before January 19, 2025, silencing 170 million Americans who engage on the platform in ways unique to it.”
According to AFP, after the law passed in a congressional vote and was enacted by the White House, TikTok warned it would use all possible legal means to challenge the legislation known as the “Protect American from Foreign Adversaries Act.”
On May 14th, a group of TikTok creators filed a lawsuit seeking to block the law that could potentially prevent 170 million Americans from using TikTok, stating that TikTok and Byte Dance have already “profoundly impacted the lives of Americans” with their lawsuit.
On June 6th, the Liberty Justice Center, representing BASED Politics Inc., a conservative group that posts videos on TikTok, issued a third legal challenge.
The hearing at the D.C. appellate court will take place in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election season, determining the fate of TikTok.
Earlier this month, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump also joined the discussion on TikTok and expressed concerns about the possible ban.