TikTok makes last ditch effort to stop ban with just weeks left

Key Takeaways

TikTok is facing a ban in the US on Jan 19, 2025, unless it sells its US assets or divests.
ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is attempting to delay the law banning it so it can challenge it in the Supreme Court.
TikTok is hopeful the new US administration will save it, referencing Trump’s past comments on saving it.

TikTok is facing a ban in the United States on January 19, 2025, after a U.S. federal appeals court ruled to uphold a law that TikTok must sell or divest, or it will be banned in the U.S. Now, TikTok is attempting to delay the ban so it can challenge it at the nation’s highest court.

TikTok’s latest effort to stop its ban in the U.S. is an emergency motion for an injunction in federal court. Essentially, the social media giant is asking for the law banning it to be delayed so it can mount a Supreme Court challenge. TikTok has asked for a decision on its injunction by December 16th.

“Today, we filed an emergency motion for an injunction to stop the TikTok Ban from taking effect on January 19, 2025 until our appeal of the decision by the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit is heard by the US Supreme Court,” TikTok said in a news release.

TikTok ban confirmed, app could shut down in just a few weeks

ByteDance is being forced to either sell or divest its U.S. assets or face a ban.

TikTok hopes the new U.S. Administration will save it

President-elect Trump has promised to save the app in the past

The law banning TikTok is set to go into effect January 19, 2025, one day before Trump’s inauguration as the 47th U.S. President. In its court filing, TikTok references Trump, and his past comments on saving the app as a reason to delay the implementation of the law.

“There is a reasonable possibility that the new Administration will pause enforcement of the Act or otherwise mitigate its most severe potential consequences.” TikTok said in its court injunction, the company then goes on to say “President-elect Trump has himself publicly announced ‘I’m gonna save TikTok’.”

If TikTok’s latest court injunction fails, the company can still try to challenge the law in the Supreme Court, if it takes up the case. TikTok argues that “at its core, its 170 million American users” and that if the app were to shut down, small businesses on TikTok would lose more than $1 billion in revenue and that its creators would lose over $300 million in earnings. The U.S. Congress passed a bill to ban TikTok in April, which President Biden signed into law. Since May, TikTok has been battling to overturn the law in court.