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By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Justice Department late on Wednesday asked a U.S. appeals court to reject an emergency bid by TikTok to temporarily block legislation that would have required Chinese parent BiteDance to abandon the short-form video app by Jan. 19 or face with ban.
On Monday, TikTok and BiteDance filed for emergency relief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, pending review by the U.S. Supreme Court. They warned that without court action, the law would “shut down TikTok — one of the country’s most popular voice platforms — for more than 170 million domestic users per month.”
The Justice Department said the court should not delay the law’s effective date, arguing that “China’s continued control over TikTok poses a continuing threat to national security.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The DOJ said on Wednesday that if the ban goes into effect on January 19, it “will not directly prohibit the continued use of TikTok” by users who have downloaded TikTok, but acknowledged that the effect of the bans on providing support “will ultimately make rendering the app impractical.” .”
On Friday, a three-judge appeals court panel upheld a law requiring BiteDance to soon sell TikTok in the United States facing a ban in just six weeks.
The companies noted that President-elect Donald Trump had vowed to prevent the ban, arguing that a delay would “give the new administration time to determine its position.”
The decision — unless overturned by the Supreme Court — puts TikTok’s fate first with President Joe Biden on whether to grant a 90-day extension of the Jan. 19 deadline to force the sale, followed by Trump, who takes office 1 20.
Trump, who tried unsuccessfully to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, said before the November presidential election that he would not allow TikTok to be banned.
The decision supports legislation that gives the US government broad powers to ban other foreign-owned apps that could raise concerns about the collection of Americans’ data. In 2020, Trump also tried to ban Tencent-owned WeChat, but was blocked by the courts.
