The popular musical social network seems to have its future sealed in the North American power. ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, had filed an appeal against the government order that would force the company to sell the application to a company that was not located in China before January 19. If not enforced, the platform would be completely banned in the United States.
The company argues that this law unfairly affects only TikTok and that it violates the American First Amendment, which protects the right to freedom of expression of the country’s citizens. ByteDance also clarifies that selling the platform is impossible, as it would lead to it being instantly blocked in its native country.
This request was denied by three judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, who justified their decision by explaining that the order was “carefully crafted to address solely the control of a foreign adversary.” They assured that the law does not violate in any way the right of freedom of expression of Americans.
In fact, they added that “the government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and limit that adversary’s ability to collect data about people in the United States.”
It seems that TikTok’s last hope is, ironically, Donald Trump. Although Trump approved the law that would force the sale of the application during his first presidency, the politician changed his position at the beginning of this year, when he promised to save TikTok during his presidential campaign.
Even so, it is unlikely that Trump will be able to stop the process, since he will assume the presidency on January 20, 2025, one day after the deadline for ByteDance to complete the sale of the application.
It remains to be seen whether the new president will advocate for reversing this ban.
Via: New York Times
