TikTok dealt another blow as ban case appears destined for Supreme Court: report

Video-sharing social network TikTok was dealt a new blow on Friday, as a federal appeals court declined to temporarily block the law that could result in its ban in the United States, reported CNN.

The block sets up the Supreme Court to have the final word on whether the law can stand, at least while the legal challenges to the law move forward.

"The company had indicated in court filings that if the appeals court declined to grant interim relief, it would ask the Supreme Court to step in on an emergency basis to block the law for now. That request could come at any time," reported Devan Cole. "Attorneys for the company had argued to the appeals court that declining to temporarily block the law would force the Supreme Court to review the matter on its so-called shadow docket 'in mere weeks (and over the holidays, no less).'"

TikTok, which has become a popular site for younger people and hosts around 170 million people, has for the past few years been a focus of concern because the company that owns it, ByteDance, has ties to the Chinese government and could pose a national security risk.

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ByteDance has always insisted it does not allow China to spy on U.S. consumers, but experts believe evidence suggests otherwise.

The law in question, which passed on a bipartisan basis this year, technically does not ban TikTok outright — but requires that ByteDance sell the platform off to a non-Chinese company by January of next year, or be banned from inclusion on U.S. app stores. ByteDance has given no indications of willingness to comply with the sell-off, and has instead sought relief in court.

Ironically, President-elect Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok himself by executive action when he was in office last, only for courts to rule against the move. Trump subsequently joined the platform and now publicly opposes the efforts to ban it — which reportedly came after lobbying from Jeff Yass, a billionaire financier and right-wing megadonor whose firm owns a 15 percent stake in ByteDance.