A panel of three judges hearing arguments around the potential US TikTok ban expressed "a great deal of skepticism towards TikTok’s case," during hearings on Monday writes @lauren_feinerhttps://t.co/zrVdwqTSHA
— Reuters Institute (@risj_oxford) September 17, 2024
TikTok faced a crucial court hearing on Monday as a three-judge panel questioned the constitutionality of a law that could lead to the app’s ban in the United States. The law, passed in April, requires TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the app to a non-Chinese owner by January 19th or face a nationwide ban. During the two-hour hearing, TikTok’s lawyers argued that the company was being unfairly targeted and that Congress had overstepped its authority.
They claimed the law infringed on TikTok’s First Amendment rights. However, the judges expressed skepticism about TikTok’s arguments. Judge Neomi Rao said TikTok’s reasoning was based on “a very strange framework for thinking about” congressional authority.
"After several hours of questioning it was difficult to gauge which way the court is leaning in the high-stakes legal saga…
The Justice Department has asked that the three-judge panel issue a ruling by December"https://t.co/3Fq7W62InF
— Lia Haberman (@liahaberman) September 16, 2024
Judge Douglas Ginsburg added, “It’s a rather blinkered view that this statute just singles out one company.”
A federal appeals court on Monday signaled skepticism with TikTok’s legal effort to prevent the U.S. government from forcing the popular social-media app to sever ties with China to keep operating in this country.@jacobgershman https://t.co/4hoGZBo2rwhttps://t.co/4hoGZBo2rw
— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) September 17, 2024
The judges also pressed the government’s lawyers on how a ban could impact the First Amendment rights of TikTok’s U.S. operations and its users. The government was asked to justify the ban in light of these potential infringements.
TikTok’s legal battle over ban
If the ban is enforced, it would be the most significant prohibition of a foreign-owned app by the U.S. government. It would disrupt TikTok’s massive presence in American culture, forcing many of its 170 million U.S. users to find other platforms. This would fundamentally alter the creator economy that TikTok has largely driven.
Such a move would also likely escalate tensions in the growing digital cold war between the United States and China. China has strongly condemned previous U.S. government efforts to compel a divestment of TikTok. Legal experts anticipate that the losing party in this initial round will likely appeal to the Supreme Court, making it a prolonged and closely watched legal battle.
A decision from the current appeals court is expected before December 6th. The stakes are high for TikTok, which has become a cultural phenomenon and a major player in the social media landscape. The app’s fate now hangs in the balance as the legal battle unfolds.
