The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a law Friday requiring Chinese internet company ByteDance either to sell TikTok or for the social media platform to be effectively banned in America.
The three-judge panel’s ruling paves the way for the law to take effect on Jan. 19, 2025.
ByteDance is TikTok’s parent company. It’s headquartered in Beijing and subject to Chinese law, which requires companies to make data available to the Chinese Communist Party.
The three judges on the appellate court panel unanimously rejected TikTok’s argument that the ban is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment rights of users of the app.
