Monday's emergency motion filed by Chinese internet company ByteDance and its short-video platform TikTok asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to stop a law requiring ByteDance divestment of TikTok in the United States by January 19. The companies contend that the application of the rule would essentially block TikTok, therefore affecting over 170 million American users right before a presidential inauguration.
Last Monday, a three-judge panel of the appeals court maintained the divestment requirement, therefore imposing a six-week deadline for ByteDance to comply or risk disqualification. ByteDance's legal team claim the law creates significant constitutional conundrum and calls for a stop so the U.S. Supreme Court may evaluate things more closely.
The lawsuit adds the incoming Biden government might change its position on TikTok, therefore nullifying the case. TikTok's destiny is unknown as President Joe Biden is faced with choices about whether to enforce the ban or give a 90-day extension for compliance.
ByteDance also comes under fire on whether it can show notable divestment progress to get an extension. Major U.S. social media stocks including Meta Platforms (META, Financial), Snap Inc. (SNAP, Financial), Pinterest (PINS, Financial), Alphabet (GOOGL, Financial), and Spotify (SPOT, Financial), have enjoyed bumps over the past five days amid TikTok's legal issues.
