ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, filed a motion this week with an appeals court to temporarily suspend a law requiring the company to deactivate TikTok before January 19 or face a ban in the United States. This movement occurs while awaiting a review by the country's Supreme Court.
The motion of emergency was presented before the Tribunal de Apelaciones de Stados Unidos para el Distrito de Columbia. In her, ByteDance warned that, without a judicial order that prevented the law from coming into force, TikTok, which has more than 170 million monthly users in EE. UU., could be closed right before the presidential inauguration.
A three-judge panel of the court upheld in Viernes the law that requires ByteDance to disinvert TikTok in the country before the start of the new year, or else face a six-week ban in one place. The firm's abogados argue that the likelihood of the Supreme Court accepting the case is high enough to justify a pause in time, allowing more time for adequate deliberation.
Additionally, I mentioned that President-elect, Donald Trump, has expressed his intent to avoid a ban, suggesting that the additional time could allow the new administration to establish its posture on the matter, thus influencing the possible repercussions on the judicial decision.
TikTok also advises that an error could disrupt services for millions of users outside of EE. UU. The application indicated that hundreds of service providers in the country, busy maintaining, deploying and updating the platform, proved unable to offer support starting from the maximum limit of 19 years.
The Justice Department, for its part, instructed the appeals court to quickly respond to TikTok's solicitation, arguing that this will maximize the time available for the Supreme Court to consider ByteDance and TikTok's petitions.
The application urged the court to give a decision on his petition before December 16. This decision, unless returned by the Supreme Court, will leave TikTok's future in the hands of President Joe Biden, who will have to decide whether to extend the 90-day design limit, and subsequently, President Trump, who will take charge on 20 of black. However, it's unclear whether ByteDance could demonstrate significant progress toward engineering that would justify that extension.
Trump, who wanted to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, said before the November election that he would not allow the app to be banned. His new national security advisor, Mike Waltz, commented on Fox Business Network that Trump is interested in “saving TikTok”, responding to the need for the United States to have access to the application, at the same time as protecting the data personal.
The law in question refers to the government of EE. UU. broad powers to ban external applications that raise concerns about copying US citizens' data. This approach is not new; In 2020, Trump attempted to ban Tencent-owned WeChat, but faced judicial roadblocks that hindered the implementation of this ban.
In conclusion, TikTok's current situation and its future in the international market depend on multiple factors, including the response of the new administration and the results of judicial deliberations. The legal battle around the app reflects broader concerns about data privacy and the influence of digital platforms in today's society. ByteDance continues to search for a solution that will allow it to continue operating in an increasingly challenging environment.
