TikTok makes emergency appeal to US Supreme Court, seeking review of divest-or-ban law

TikTok petitioned the US Supreme Court on Monday to review a lower court’s decision upholding a law that mandates the nationwide ban of the popular Chinese-owned video app if it fails to secure an American buyer by mid-January.

The emergency appeal came after the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied an emergency request on Friday from TikTok, its parent company ByteDance and other petitioners to temporarily block the ban pending a Supreme Court review.

The ban, which is set to take effect on January 19, 2025, would prevent TikTok from operating in the US unless it is sold to a non-Chinese business.

TikTok is asking the Supreme Court to halt the ban and review the lower court decision, arguing that the ruling infringes on the free speech rights of TikTok’s 170 million American users.

Analysts said the country’s highest court would probably not agree to review the decision by the three-judge appellate panel, which in a December 6 ruling unanimously found the divest-or-sale law constitutional.

“I don’t think it’s very likely that the Supreme Court gives TikTok any meaningful relief. On the merits, a majority of the justices likely agree with the DC circuit panel’s bottom-line conclusion, so they will not be rushing to correct the panel below,” contended Mark Jia, a law professor at Georgetown University, said.