The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday (December 6) ruled to reject the appeal by TikTok. The ruling stated that the US Congress’s enactment of the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” this year did not violate the protection of free speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution, thus dismissing the appeal.
The appellate court required ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to sell TikTok by January 19, 2025, in accordance with the requirements of the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act”. Otherwise, TikTok will be banned from operating in the United States and will not be permitted in US app stores and web hosting services.
The “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” received overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses of Congress and was signed into effect by US President Biden in April of this year. The act aims to prevent data brokers from transferring the data of US users to hostile nations.
Chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, John Moolenaar, stated after the ruling was announced, “Today’s ruling is a victory for the American people and TikTok users, and a failure for the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP can no longer utilize ByteDance’s control over TikTok to undermine our sovereignty, surveil our citizens, and threaten our national security.”
Moolenaar added, “I am optimistic about President Trump’s efforts to have the US take over TikTok and allow it to continue operating in the US. I look forward to and welcome TikTok continuing its operations under new ownership.”
According to the act, the deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok business is January 19, 2025, the day before Trump’s inauguration.
Chief Democratic member of the committee, Raja Krishnamoorthi, also commended the judgment in a statement.
Krishnamoorthi said, “Today’s ruling confirms that all three branches of government have reached the same conclusion: ByteDance is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, TikTok owned by ByteDance poses a threat to US national security, and this threat can only be effectively addressed by severing TikTok’s Chinese ownership.”
Krishnamoorthi pointed out, “It is time for ByteDance to comply with the ‘Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,’ a law that I co-authored. Every day TikTok remains under CCP control is a day our security is endangered.”
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, also stated that the court’s ruling is “a significant victory for protecting the nation.”
“This is a major victory in protecting our country—especially our children—from one of the most significant surveillance and influence tools of the CCP,” McCaul said on the social media platform. He further mentioned that TikTok poses serious national security issues and is being used by Beijing authorities to “monitor Americans and exploit their most sensitive information.”