federal court On Friday, it cited national security concerns as it backed a law requiring it to be based in China ByteDance To sell the popular social media app Tik Tok next month or face an effective ban in the United States.
The unanimous ruling was rejected by a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC TikTok's argument is that the law is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment rights of the 170 million Americans who use the app. program.
TikTok said later on Friday that it would ask the US Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court's decision.
If ByteDance fails to sell TikTok by January 19, the law will require app store companies, e.g apple and Googleand internet hosting providers to stop supporting TikTok, which would effectively ban the app.
“Today’s decision is an important step in preventing the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to collect sensitive information about millions of Americans, secretly manipulate content provided to the American public, and undermine our national security,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. . The Attorney General is the head of the Ministry of Justice, which is defending the law in the lawsuit brought by ByteDance and TikTok.
“As the D.C. Circuit has recognized, this law protects the national security of the United States in a manner consistent with the Constitution,” Garland said.
president Joe Biden The law was signed in April after members of Congress from both parties raised concerns about TikTok's alleged connections to the communist Chinese government. Rep. Troy Balderson, Republican of Ohio, in March, Named TikTok is “a surveillance tool used by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on Americans and collect highly personal data.”
President-elect Donald Trump He did not say whether he would implement the ban when he takes office next month.
The Court of Appeals concluded in its majority opinion on Friday that the US government “presented convincing evidence demonstrating that the Divestment Act is narrowly designed to protect national security.”
The opinion noted that TikTok “never directly denies that it manipulated content at the direction of” the People's Republic of China.
“On the merits, we reject each of the petitioners’ constitutional claims,” Justice Douglas Ginsburg wrote in his opinion.
“As we will show, the portions of the law properly before this Court neither conflict with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, nor violate the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the laws; constitute an unlawful act or act in the taking of private property without compensation,” the opinion said. In violation of the Fifth Amendment.
Ginsburg noted that the law was the result of “broad, bipartisan actions by Congress and successive presidents.”
“It was carefully drafted to address only the control of a foreign adversary, and was part of a broader effort to confront the well-established national security threat posed by the People’s Republic of China,” the judge wrote.
In a statement about the ruling posted on X, TikTok said: “The Supreme Court has a well-established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that in this important constitutional case.”
“Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was designed and imposed based on inaccurate, flawed, and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people,” the company said. “Banning TikTok, unless stopped, will silence the voices of more than 170 million Americans here in the United States and around the world on January 19, 2025.”
Patrick Toomey, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Security Project, condemned Friday's ruling, saying it “sets a flawed and dangerous precedent, giving the government too much power to silence Americans' online speech.”
“Banning TikTok blatantly violates the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans who use this app to express themselves and connect with people around the world,” Toomey said.. “The government can only shut down an entire communications platform if it poses very serious and imminent harm, and there is no evidence of that here,” he added.
Although TikTok said it would ask the US Supreme Court to hear the case, there is no automatic right of appeal to that court.
A source close to the company, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told NBC News that it would seek an injunction pending a planned petition to have the Supreme Court take up the case.
In September mail Trump wrote on his social media app, Truth Social, that he “isn't doing anything with TikTok, but the other side will shut it down.”
“If you like TikTok, go out and vote for Trump,” the then president-elect wrote.
Carolyn Leavitt, Trump's transition spokeswoman, told CNBC in November that the president-elect would “fulfill” his campaign promises.
CNBC has requested comment from Trump's transition team regarding Friday's ruling and its plans for TikTok.
Trump's stance on TikTok may be influenced by other factors.
The president-elect tried to ban the app during his first administration.
But then his rhetoric on TikTok began to shift Met in February With billionaire Jeff Yass, a major Republican donor and lead investor in Bytedance.
Yas's business, Susquehanna International Group, has a 15% stake in ByteDance, while Yas has a 7% stake in the company, equivalent to about $21 billion, NBC and CNBC reported. I mentioned In March. And that was also the month I mentioned That Yas was a part owner of the company that merged with Trump's parent company Truth Social.
