By Tori Jay
Black America Web
Reprinted – by Texas Metro News
https://blackamericaweb.com/
Is TikTok’s time up?
Source: KiddNation / Kidd Nation
On Friday (Dec. 6), a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected TikTok’s bid to overturn the law that would force the company to either find new ownership or be banned in the U.S. altogether.
The controversy surrounding TikTok stems from long-standing national security concerns on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers worry that ByteDance, its Chinese parent company, could be forced to share American user data with the Chinese government or manipulate TikTok’s algorithm to spread propaganda. The argument is that this poses a risk to national security and could allow foreign interference in U.S. affairs.
The only way to avoid the ban would be for ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer. If TikTok isn’t sold by the deadline, U.S. app stores and internet services could face significant fines for hosting the platform.
The legislation that requires TikTok to either be sold or banned (which faced major backlash from the app’s content creators) was signed by President Joe Biden back in April. In May, TikTok sued to block the law in May, arguing that the law unfairly targets the app and undermines the free speech rights of its 170 million U.S. users.
Today, the courts determined otherwise:
“We conclude the portions of the Act the petitioners have standing to challenge, that is the provisions concerning TikTok and its related entities, survive constitutional scrutiny,” Senior Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote in the majority opinion. “We therefore deny the petitions.”
If the ban goes through, it is set to take effect on January 19, 2025.
Though he previously tried to ban it during his first term in office, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to “save” the app during his 2024 presidential campaign.
