In April, the U.S. Senate passed a law that would force TikTok to separate from its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, within a year—or face a national ban. On Friday, a U.S. appeals court upheld the law.
This means TikTok could be banned starting January 19, 2025.
Related: TikTok Sues U.S. to Block Ban, Sale Mandate, Says Divesting From ByteDance ‘Not Possible’
In May, TikTok sued to try to block the law, arguing that it infringed on the free speech of its users, but in the ruling, the judges wrote that it does not “contravene the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,” and it also does not “violate the Fifth Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws.”
In a statement, TikTok suggested it would appeal the decision.
“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 company spokesperson Michael Hughes, per CNN. “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people. The TikTok ban, unless stopped, will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025.”
TikTok has around 170 million users in the U.S., according to reports.
Related: I Have Over 214,000 Followers on TikTok. Here’s What I’m Doing Right Now In Case a Ban Happens.
ByteDance previously noted that it will not sell.
In a September, U.S. government attorneys argued that TikTok’s algorithm is “controlled by its Chinese parent company,” which may influence Americans on the app.
TikTok users, meanwhile, are posting their complaints and sorrows.
“This is nuts,” one user said in a video, while others said they still have their “hopes that TikTok will not get banned” but that “it doesn’t look good.”
Some users said they would start posting more on YouTube, just in case.
