Topline
TikTok asked a federal court Monday to pause its ruling upholding the federal government’s law that could ban the app in the coming weeks, as the company wants the law to remain on pause while it asks the Supreme Court to take up the case—and so President-elect Donald Trump will have time to try and block the ban himself.
The TikTok logo is displayed outside TikTok offices on March 12 in Culver City, California.
Key Facts
TikTok asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to impose an injunction that would pause its ruling on Friday, which upheld the law requiring TikTok to be sold by Chinese parent company ByteDance or else be banned from U.S. app stores.
The company asked for the ruling to be paused—meaning the law won’t take effect—while it asks the Supreme Court to take up the case, arguing the high court should “have an opportunity … to decide whether to review this exceptionally important case” before the law takes effect.
It also said the pause would give the incoming Trump administration time to weigh in on the legal dispute, arguing President-elect Donald Trump’s position “could moot both the impending harms and the need for Supreme Court review.”
Trump reportedly wants to stop the TikTok ban, and the company argued that as a result there’s a “reasonable possibility that the new Administration will pause enforcement of the Act or otherwise mitigate its most severe potential consequences”—even though legal experts have suggested there isn’t a foolproof way for Trump to block the law.
Banning the app while the case is appealed would “inflict extreme and irreparable harm” for TikTok and its users, the company argued, alleging shutting the app down even temporarily would “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.”
If the appeals court doesn’t pause the law, TikTok said they’ll go to the Supreme Court immediately to get an emergency ruling blocking the law while it’s appealed—but argued they’d rather not do that, saying the Supreme Court should not be “hasty” by trying to resolve the issue immediately, and the appeals court should rather pause the law so the high court can conduct a “more deliberate and orderly process.”
What To Watch For
TikTok asked the appeals court to rule on whether it will pause the law by Dec. 16.
Crucial Quote
“A modest delay in enforcing the Act will simply create breathing room for the Supreme Court to conduct an orderly review and for the incoming Administration to evaluate this matter—before one of this country’s most important speech platforms is shuttered,” TikTok argued in its filing.
Can Trump Stop The Tiktok Ban?
Though TikTok suggested in its filing that Trump could come in and save the app and keep it from having to go to the Supreme Court, it’s still unclear how he could do so. While Trump could simply say his administration won’t enforce a TikTok ban by going after Apple and Google if they keep the app up on their app stores, legal experts predicted to Barron’s there would still be “enormous pressure” on those companies to comply with the ban anyway. Former DOJ official Alan Rozenshtein noted Trump’s unpredictable nature could mean companies wouldn’t want to rule out that the president-elect could change his mind and enforce the law, so they would still remove TikTok from their stores. Rozenshtein speculated in an op-ed for Lawfare that the best way for Trump to try and stop the law could be for him to simply declare that TikTok is in compliance with the law’s requirements and shouldn’t be banned, whether or not ByteDance has actually divested from TikTok as the law mandates. But that still isn’t a foolproof way to keep it legal, as Rozenshtein noted TikTok’s rivals could still sue and argue TikTok isn’t in compliance with the law. The most far-fetched route Trump could take is to try and pressure Congress to repeal the law, Rozenshtein predicted, which is all but certain to fail given lawmakers’ bipartisan support for restricting the app.
Key Background
The TikTok ban became law in April after lawmakers had long raised concerns about the company’s Chinese ties. TikTok and creators on the app sued shortly after, arguing the ban violated their First Amendment rights, while the federal government maintained the law was necessary for national security. TikTok has denied any wrongdoing or links to the Chinese government, but Forbes has reported on numerous concerns involving the app, including including TikTok spying on journalists, tracking “sensitive” words, promoting Chinese propaganda criticizing U.S. politicians and mishandling user data. (TikTok has denied those allegations or blamed actions on individual bad actors.) The panel of appeals court judges ultimately upheld the ban based on those concerns about the app and Congress’ judgment that banning it is essential for national security, ruling Friday that the law was actually the least restrictive way of responding to those concerns, since it lets the company keep operating if it loses its China-based ownership stake. The judges ruled the law also does not violate the company’s First Amendment rights, because the law is focused on “ending foreign adversary control, not content censorship,” and all the content on the app will stay up if ByteDance divests from TikTok.
Big Number
32%. That’s the share of U.S. adults who support a TikTok ban, according to a Pew Research poll conducted in July and August. Support for prohibiting the app has steadily fallen, with 50% backing a ban in March 2023 and 38% supporting one in September and October 2023.
