Made-in-China social network TikTok has appealed the decision to shut it down in the US, arguing that the deadline for its destruction should be deferred to give another regime a chance to review its case.
The shutdown was ordered after the Biden administration passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PFACAA). TikTok and its parent ByteDance used the courts to challenge the law's constitutional validity in a series of cases that last Friday saw the law – and ban – upheld.
But there are still two possible avenues of appeal TikTok is yet to explore.
One is president-elect Donald Trump, who called for the app's banning when last resident in the White House. In a recent interview he said he thinks TikTok is both bad and good – but that one of its good aspects is it takes audience away from Facebook, which he considers "an enemy of the people."
A set of emergency filings lobbed into the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Monday point out that the date on which the current order requires TikTok to stop Tikking and Tokking in the Land of the Free is January 19, 2025. Trump's second inauguration will take place the next day. TikTok argues the timing is so tight the new administration should have a role to play.
The other avenue of appeal is the US Supreme Court.
TikTok and Caymans-incorporated ByteDance have already signalled their intention to appeal, on grounds that there remain legal matters to test and that its 170-million-plus US users consider the Court a suitable venue for consideration of whether the decision to ban the app is sound.
The filings also address national security – the rationale for the US ban of the service – by arguing TikTok poses "no imminent threat." TikTok argues that the Biden administration alleged "China 'could' engage in certain harmful conduct through TikTok, not that China is currently doing so or will soon do so." A little delay in turning off the app in the US therefore couldn't hurt, could it?
TikTok wants the Court of Appeals to decide the matter by December 16.
Government lawyers have opposed TikTok's application. A letter [PDF] to the Court argues that it should butt out and let TikTok go to the Supreme Court so that body has more time in which to consider the matter before the January 19 deadline.
Another wild card is that the law banning TikTok includes a clause that allows a one-off 90-day stay on its orders – which would mean a final decision lands on the future Trump administration's to-do list.
While the lawyers do their thing, TikTok continues to mobilize those who make money on the platform to lobby for its continuing operation. However, the New York Times reports TikTok creators' agents are warning them not to make major purchases – as many online personalities increase their use of rival platforms. ®