In April, the US Senate PASSED a law that would force TikTok to split from its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, within a year—or face a national ban. On Friday, a US appeals court upheld the law.
This means that TikTok may be banned starting January 19, 2025.
Related: TikTok Sues US to Block Ban, Sales Mandate, Says ByteDance Exit 'Not Possible'
in may TikTok sued try to block the law, arguing that it infringed on the free speech of its users, but in the ruling, the judges wrote that it does not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and also does not “violate the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the laws.”
In a statementTikTok suggested it would appeal the decision.
“The Supreme Court has an established track record of protecting Americans' right to free speech, and we expect them to do just that on this important constitutional issue,” company spokesman Michael Hughes told CNN. “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and implemented based on inaccurate, flawed, and hypothetical information, resulting in total censorship of the American people. The TikTok ban, if not stopped, will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19, 2025.”
According to reports, TikTok has around 170 million users in the US.
Related: I have over 214,000 followers on TikTok. Here's what I'm doing right now in case a ban happens.
ByteDance was noted earlier that it will not sell.
In one SeptemberUS government lawyers argued that TikTok's algorithm is “controlled by its Chinese parent company”, which could affect Americans on the app.
Meanwhile, TikTok users are posting their grievances and sorrows.
“That's nuts,” said one user in a video, while said the others they still have their “hopes that TikTok won't be banned” but that “doesn't look good”.
Some users said they'd start posting more on YouTube, just in case.