TikTok’s future in the U.S. is now in greater jeopardy after the popular social video app on Friday lost a major court battle as it tries to prevent its banishment.
In May, TikTok sued the government, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals to declare unconstitutional a law that would require its Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a ban in the country.
Legislators backing the law said a ban or sale was necessary to address national security concerns posed by the app’s ties to China.
The law, signed by President Biden, is set to go into effect Jan. 19.
TikTok had said in its lawsuit that the law violated its 1st Amendment rights to free speech. More than 170 million Americans use the video app, where people share dance routines, cooking tips, funny videos and news stories.
“On the merits, we reject each of the petitioners’ constitutional claims,” the judges said in their decision issued Friday.
Legal experts said they anticipate TikTok will appeal its case to the Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” said TikTok spokesman Michael Hughes in a statement on Friday. “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people.”
President-elect Donald Trump had campaigned on supporting TikTok, despite having pushed for a ban during his first term.
“We’re not doing anything with TikTok,” he said on a video posted on social media earlier this year.
The Trump transition team did not immediately return a request for comment.
A ban on TikTok could hurt the livelihoods of many Southern California video creators and influencers who post content on the platform. Many of those creators over the years have diversified where they post their content to prepare for a potential ban.
