ByteDance and TikTok Ask Court to Temporarily Block Divestiture Law
ByteDance, the parent company of short-video app TikTok, and TikTok itself have asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to temporarily block a law that would require them to divest TikTok in the US by January 19 or face a ban. The companies have filed an emergency motion warning that without the order, TikTok will “shut down” for its more than 170 million domestic monthly users on the eve of a presidential inauguration.
The law was upheld by a three-judge panel of the appeals court last Friday, giving the companies just six weeks to divest TikTok. In their motion, lawyers for ByteDance and TikTok argued that the prospect of the Supreme Court reviewing the case and potentially reversing the decision is “sufficiently high to warrant the temporary pause needed to create time for further deliberation.”
The companies also noted that US President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to prevent a ban on TikTok, arguing that a delay would give his administration time to determine its position, which could potentially moot the need for Supreme Court review.
TikTok warned that the court’s ruling would interrupt services for tens of millions of TikTok users outside the United States, and hundreds of US service providers that enable maintenance, distribution, and updating would not be able to provide support for the TikTok platform starting January 19.
The Justice Department has urged the appeals court to quickly deny the TikTok’s request to “maximize the time available for the Supreme Court’s consideration” of the company’s petitions. TikTok has asked the court to decide on its request by December 16.
