TikTok’s court hearing to determine app’s fate in US

TikTok and parent company ByteDance are facing a key court hearing today that will determine if the app will be banned in the US by January 19 amid the US government’s concerns about national security and data privacy.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hold oral arguments on the legal challenge, putting the fate of Chinese-owned TikTok, currently used by 170 million Americans, at risk.

The main issues revolve around its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and the fear that the Chinese government could access sensitive data on American users, and that the app could be used to collect data on American users and potentially influence public opinion.

As a result, lawmakers from both major US political parties have called for ByteDance to sell Tik Tok to a non-Chinese company.

President Joe Biden signed the law in April, giving ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell TikTok or face a ban, but he could extend the deadline by three months if he certifies ByteDance is making progress toward a sale.

TikTok argued that selling the app wouldn’t solve concerns and has proposed measures to protect US user data instead.

ByteDance said a divestiture is “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally.”

Circuit Judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao, and Douglas Ginsburg said they will consider the legal challenges brought by TikTok and users.

This comes as TikTok is currently being widely used in the middle of the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election, with both Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and vice president Kamala Harris using TikTok to secure secure younger voters.

TikTok and the Justice Department have asked for a ruling by Dec. 6, which could allow the US Supreme Court to make a decision before any ban takes effect.

The White House says it wants to see Chinese-based ownership ended on national security grounds, but not a ban on TikTok.