Tiktok ban coming?

A federal appeals court is backing legislation that would ban TikTok in the United States if the social media app's Chinese parent company does not sell the platform by January.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted in favor to deny the review of three petitions for relief from TikTok and ByteDance, the platform's parent company, on Friday. The court found the petitions, which aimed to reverse the passed legislation, unconstitutional.

In the spring, Congress approved the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act and President Joe Biden swiftly signed the bill, which will take effect on Jan. 19, 2025. Under the act, TikTok, if still operated by ByteDance, will become illegal for distribution in the United States. The app will be illegal to download from the Apple App Store or Google Play, and internet service providers will be required to make the app inaccessible on U.S. internet browsers.

Users who have TikTok on their devices would still be able to use the app under the act, but banning TikTok from app stores would prohibit future software updates.
However, if ByteDance sells the platform to another company before Jan. 19, the app will remain available in the states.