A federal appeals court upheld a law that could potentially lead to a ban of the social media platform TikTok in the U.S. if it fails to sever ties with its China-based parent company, ByteDance, by mid-January.
The big picture: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied TikTok’s petition to overturn the law, stating that the government’s action was aimed at protecting the freedom of speech in the United States from a foreign adversary nation and limiting that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the U.S.
- TikTok and ByteDance plan to appeal to the Supreme Court, while President-elect Donald Trump, who once sought to ban TikTok during his first term, indicated his new stance against a TikTok ban and a commitment to “save” the social media platform.
Driving the news: The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, is the result of long-standing concerns in Washington regarding TikTok’s ties to China, which the U.S. views as a national security risk due to perceived data collection and potential algorithm manipulation by the Chinese government.
- The government’s concerns include the collection of user data by TikTok, including sensitive information on viewing habits, and the vulnerability of the algorithm that shapes content on the app to potential manipulation by Chinese authorities.
- Despite TikTok’s denial that it could be used by Beijing to spy on or manipulate Americans, and its assertion of investing billions to protect U.S. user data, the U.S. has not provided evidence to support its claims.
