The Department of Justice is asking a U.S. appeals court to reject a bid from TikTok to block the law that would force TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest.
Congress passed a bill earlier this year that President Joe Biden signed into law that forces TikTok to divest from ByteDance or face a ban in the United States. Lawmakers have been concerned about the Chinese government’s ability to access American users’ data.
TikTok filed an emergency motion on Monday to halt its looming ban, which will take place on Jan. 19, 2025, if the company does not sell to a different owner.
The Justice Department said the court should not delay the law’s effective date, arguing, “Continued Chinese control of the TikTok application poses a continuing threat to national security.”
The DOJ added on Wednesday that if the ban takes effect on Jan. 19, it would “not directly prohibit the continued use of TikTok” by users who had downloaded TikTok but that the effects of the changes “will eventually be to render the application unworkable.”
President-elect Donald Trump has said he would not support a TikTok ban, even though he supported such a ban in 2020.
TikTok argued the platform should not be banned because it is one of the nation’s “most popular” speech platforms.
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The company said the Supreme Court should be given an opportunity to delve into the matter, given it is an “exceptionally important case” that could force a ban of “one of the Nation’s most popular speech platforms,” which they claim has 170 million users in the U.S.
“An injunction is especially appropriate because it will give the incoming administration time to determine its position, which could moot both the impending harms and the need for Supreme Court review,” TikTok and ByteDance said.
