• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, December 9, 2024

TikTok is asking a federal appellate court to halt a law that could result in a ban on the app by next month, unless it's sold by parent company, China-based ByteDance.

“If the act takes effect on January 19, 2025, one of the nation’s leading speech platforms will be shuttered, inflicting irreparable injury by silencing petitioners and the 170 million Americans who use the platform each month,” TikTok and ByteDance say in an emergency motion filed Monday morning with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The appellate court upheld the law on Friday, ruling it was justified based on national security concerns. TikTok and ByteDance say they plan to ask the Supreme Court to review that ruling, and are seeking to stay the law until that court weighs in.

The Department of Justice on Monday opposed the request and urged the court to deny it without additional written arguments.

The Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521), signed into law in April, prohibits app stores and websites from distributing TikTok unless it's divested by ByteDance. The measure was largely driven by fears that the Chinese government may be able to access data about TikTok's users, and use the app to sway public opinion.

The law gives ByteDance a January 19 deadline to find a buyer, and provides that President Joe Biden can extend that period for up to three months. Biden hasn't indicated whether he's inclined to grant that extension.

President-elect Donald Trump recently suggested he doesn't support a ban -- despite having attempted to outlaw the app when previously held office. But it's unclear whether Trump can effectively prevent a ban -- either by convincing Congress to repeal the law, or asking the Department of Justice not to enforce it.

TikTok argued Monday that it will suffer “irreparable injury,” unless the law is stayed.

“Starting on January 19, the Act will inflict extreme and irreparable harm on petitioners by banning their operation of TikTok in the United States on the eve of a presidential inauguration,” the company writes. “This will deprive TikTok’s base of 170 million monthly users and creators of access to one of the country’s most popular speech platforms; destroy TikTok’s ability to attract advertisers; and cripple petitioners’ ability to recruit and retain talent.”

Even a short shutdown “will cause TikTok to lose advertisers and commercial partners,” the company wrote, adding that a one-month closure would lead to a 29% loss of TikTok's “total targeted global advertising revenue” for 2025.

TikTok added that an emergency injunction would give the incoming Trump administration an opportunity to determine its position.