TikTok has run out of time in the United States: what will happen now?

TikTok’s emergency injunction against its ban in the United States has been denied. This means that the deadline to leave the Land of Liberty remains January 19, and the company now hopes that an appeal to the Supreme Court will save it at the last minute.

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In an order filed on Friday, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia deemed the granting of an injunction to stop the ban on TikTok in the United States unjustified. It considered that doing so would not only delay the execution of a judicial resolution but would completely suspend a law that was deliberately enacted by Congress and ratified as constitutional by the court.

“The petitioners have not identified any case in which a court, after rejecting a constitutional challenge against a law of Congress, has prohibited the law from taking effect while its review is sought before the Supreme Court,” the order states.

TikTok has run out of time and only a miracle can save it

The court also noted that TikTok’s request for a preliminary injunction was based on its claim that the ban violates the right to freedom of expression enshrined in the First Amendment.

In their request last Monday, TikTok argued that it was likely the Supreme Court would review the ban, as “restrictions [on freedom of] expression have survived strict scrutiny only in rare and narrow circumstances.”

Unfortunately, the Court of Appeals ruling had already rejected TikTok’s argument, the Friday order reiterating that “it unanimously concluded that the Law meets the First Amendment requirements under heightened scrutiny.”

Laws that restrict freedom of expression are subject to strict scrutiny, requiring them to be narrowly tailored to promote a compelling governmental interest. They must also be the least restrictive means to achieve the government’s objective.

TikTok has systematically denied accusations of ties with the Chinese government. The company has also publicly invested $1.5 billion to quarantine U.S. user data in the U.S. with the American company Oracle, an initiative dubbed Project Texas. Even so, U.S. lawmakers remain unconvinced.

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Although Friday’s decision is an undeniable setback for TikTok, the company has reiterated its intention to appeal to the United States Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court does not rule in favor of TikTok, the only way for Americans to retain access to TikTok is for ByteDance to sell its operations in the United States.