US Court to Hear TikTok Arguments in September

A US appeals court set a date of 16 September to hear arguments on challenges to a law that would ban TikTok unless parent company ByteDance agrees to divest its US assets. US President Joe Biden signed legislation on 24 April that gave ByteDance until 19 January to sell TikTok or face a ban.

For several years US politicians have expressed concerns TikTok is a threat to national security due to its Chinese ownership. A group of TikTok users filed a lawsuit in May seeking to block the law after ByteDance filed a similar motion. Its app is used by around 170 million Americans.

TikTok and ByteDance must file their legal briefs by 20 June, while the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has until 26 July. TikTok and the DoJ want a ruling by 6 December in case the results need to be reviewed by the US Supreme Court.

ByteDance previously stated it would shutter the short-form video platform in the US rather than sell it. If the ban goes through, Apple, Google, and other entities would not legally be able to offer TikTok in app stores or provide web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.