TikTok faces crucial court hearing that may decide its future in the US

TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, will face a key court hearing on Monday that could determine whether the popular app remains available to 170 million American users. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hear arguments challenging a law that could ban the app as soon as January 19, placing TikTok’s fate in the spotlight just weeks before the 2024 presidential election.
The legal dispute stems from a law signed by President Joe Biden in April, which gives ByteDance until January 19 to sell TikTok or face a U.S. ban. The law passed through Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, driven by concerns that China could potentially access American users’ data or use the app for espionage. However, ByteDance has pushed back, arguing that the law is unconstitutional and infringes on free speech rights, calling it “a radical departure from this country’s tradition of championing an open Internet.”
ByteDance has also maintained that selling TikTok is neither “technologically, commercially, nor legally” feasible and that a divestiture would not address lawmakers’ concerns. Without a favourable court ruling, the company warns of an unprecedented ban on the app in the U.S. beginning January 19. The case will be considered by Circuit Judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao, and Douglas Ginsburg.
Both TikTok and the U.S. Justice Department have urged the court for a decision by December 6, which could allow the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene before the January deadline.
The timing of the hearing is significant, as both Republican candidate Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have been actively using TikTok to reach younger voters ahead of the 2024 election. The app has become a central platform for political outreach in the U.S., further raising the stakes in this legal battle.
Although the Biden administration and supporters of the law assert that the measure is aimed at ending Chinese ownership of the app, not banning TikTok altogether, the outcome of the court proceedings could drastically reshape the app’s future in the U.S.