What does the appeals court decision on TikTok ban mean for users?
A United States federal appeals court has upheld legislation that bans social media juggernaut TikTok in the country by denying to review three petitions for relief from TikTok and its parent company ByteDance.
In its vote on Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that it found the petitions unconstitutional. The court's vote doesn't mean that TikTok is banned just yet, however.
ByteDance has until Jan. 19, 2025, when the bill is set to go into effect, to divest TikTok and sell the social media app to prevent it from being banned in the U.S.
Why does the U.S. want to ban TikTok?
Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act in the spring. Joe Biden signed the law stating that the Chinese-owned app was a national security concern among government officials.
The sentiment has been largely shared among Republicans and Democrats as former president and now President-elect Donald Trump issued a national emergency in 2019 after finding that "foreign adversaries" were "exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology and services," the federal appeals court opinion states. As a part of his response, Trump prohibited any transactions with the company.
But in July, Trump flipped his stance on banning TikTok. "I'm for TikTok because you need competition. If you don't have TikTok, you have Facebook and Instagram," Trump told Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
When will the TikTok ban go into effect?
TikTok will effectively be banned in the U.S. after the law goes into effect on Jan. 19, 2025. ByteDance could stop the ban from going into effect by selling the app before then, but the company has shown no interest in doing so.
What happens to the TikTok app after it's banned?
After Jan. 19, 2025, it will be illegal to download TikTok from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store on Android devices. Internet service providers will also be required to make the app inaccessible on browsers in the U.S.
Anyone who still has the app on their phone or tablet after the ban will still be able to use it, but they won't be able to get any future software updates from app stores.
What's next for TikTok?
The federal appeals court decision isn't the end for TikTok just yet. TikTok and ByteDance have denied claims that the app is a national security risk and are expected to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
Reuters reported Friday that TikTok believes the Supreme Court would reverse the appeals court decision based on the First Amendment.
"The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans' right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue," TikTok said in a statement.
Biden also has the option to grant a 90-day extension of the January deadline if ByteDance provides evidence that it is serious about selling the social media app.