Planned Ban of TikTok: 3 Judges Set To Hear Case Monday

Next Monday is a key decision day for social media platform TikTok; it is the day its planned ban would be feature at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The court will that day take oral arguments on the case which have potential of affecting the social media platform and its burgeoning subscribers, said to be about 170 million in the United States of America alone..

TikTok is Chinese owned and the case centres around whether or not it should be forced to divest its US assets or face a nationwide ban by January 19.

With its parent company, ByteDance, it would be appearing for the oral arguments at  Washington, DC, armed with  argument that the law is unconstitutional and infringes on Americans’ free speech rights, marking a “radical departure from this country’s tradition of championing an open Internet, agency reports have said.

Whereas US authorities argue that TikTok’s Chinese ownership presents a serious security risk, potentially allowing the Chinese government to access personal data or manipulate information, ByteDance counters otherwise.

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The company sees divesting TikTok’s US operations as not feasible, warning  that a ban would result in an unprecedented disruption of its operations.

Another dimension to the whole thing is the upcoming US elections whereby TikTok has remained a strong political campaign platform for the gladiators in the race.

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Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are active on TikTok, using the platform to engage younger voters.

President Joe Biden may extend the January 19 deadline if ByteDance shows progress in selling TikTok’s US assets, added a report, which added that  Trump has expressed that he would not support a full ban if re-elected, creating a political paradox.

“Both parties have requested a ruling by December 6, potentially allowing the US Supreme Court to consider an appeal before the proposed ban takes effect.

“The White House aims to end TikTok’s Chinese-based ownership in the interest of national security. As TikTok’s legal team prepares to argue its case, the stakes remain high for the platform’s millions of US users and ByteDance’s global business”..