Federal appeals court upholds TikTok divestiture law, setting stage for potential US ban News
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Federal appeals court upholds TikTok divestiture law, setting stage for potential US ban

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Friday upheld the constitutionality of a law requiring social media giant TikTok to separate from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a ban in the United States.

In its opinion, the court rejected challenges from TikTok and its users who argued the law violated various constitutional protections, including their First Amendment rights to free speech. The court’s decision means TikTok must complete a qualified divestiture from ByteDance by January 19, 2025, or its platform will effectively become unavailable to US users.

The court found that the government presented compelling national security justifications for the law, specifically citing concerns about the Chinese government’s ability to collect data on Americans and manipulate content through the platform. While acknowledging the significant impact on TikTok and its estimated 170 million US users, the court determined that these security concerns justified the strict measures.

“The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” the opinion stated. “Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.”

The court emphasized that TikTok has options to continue operating in the US through divestiture, though the company has argued such a separation would be impractical due to Chinese export restrictions. The ruling also noted that the President can grant a 90-day extension if progress is being made toward divestiture.

As described in the opinion, TikTok’s previous attempts to resolve these concerns through a national security agreement with the US government were deemed insufficient by both Congress and the Executive branch, leading to the passage of this more stringent legislation.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Standard Oil incorporated

On January 10, 1870, John Davison Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil. Rockefeller's corporation would grow to achieve a virtual monopoly over oil production in the United States. Standard Oil's dominance lasted until the corporation was split into 34 separate companies in 1911 after the Supreme Court found the company in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The rise of Standard Oil made Rockefeller America's first billionaire and eventually the richest man in the world. Read the text of Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey vs. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1910).