A federal court has ruled that TikTok can be banned in the United States amid safety concerns, in a surprising announcement.
The court ruled that national security concerns mean that a sale from Chinese-based ByteDance — the parent company of the app — can be forced or the social media video app can face a ban in the United States.
If ByteDance fails to sell TikTok by January 19, the law would require app store companies, such as Apple and Google, and internet hosting providers to stop supporting the app. That would, in essence, ban the app.
After the announcement, the company released a statement blasting the decision as one that flies in the face of 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,” the statement read.
“Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people. The TikTok ban, unless stopped, will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025.”
Reporting suggests the company will file an injunction to ensure that the app does not face extinction in the United States before the projected date.
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