A U.S. appeals court said Monday it would hold oral arguments on Sept. 16 in a case challenging a new law that gives China-based ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell TikTok’s U.S. assets or face a ban.
On May 14, a group of TikTok creators filed a lawsuit to block legislation that could ban the app used by 170 million Americans, arguing that the legislation has “profoundly impacted the lives of Americans” after TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, filed a similar lawsuit.
The case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit puts TikTok’s fate in the middle of the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election. Earlier this month, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took to TikTok to express concern about potentially being banned.
Developer TikTok and ByteDance have until Thursday to submit a legal brief, while the Department of Justice has until July 26 to file a rebuttal brief, with until Aug. 15.
TikTok and the Justice Department have asked for a ruling by December 6th in order to seek Supreme Court review if necessary.
The third lawsuit was filed on June 6 by the Liberty Justice Center, which represents BASED Politics Inc., a conservative group that posts videos on TikTok.
The law, signed by President Biden on April 24, orders ByteDance to make a decision to sell TikTok by Jan. 19 or face a ban. The White House has said it wants an end to the China-based company’s ownership interests for national security reasons, but does not want to ban TikTok.
The law bars app stores such as Apple and Alphabet Inc’s Google from offering TikTok and prohibits internet hosting services from supporting it unless ByteDance sells the app.
The bill was passed overwhelmingly by Congress just weeks after being introduced, following concerns from US lawmakers that China could use the app to access Americans’ data and spy on them.
