DOJ joins TikTok in calls for ‘prompt’ Dec. 6 ruling on ban

The Department of Justice, along with social media platform TikTok, is calling for the appellate court reviewing the ban against TikTok to issue a decision before the law can go into effect.

This pending law would pressure ByteDance to sell TikTok in order for the social media platform to be hosted by app stores in the United States. It was signed into law by President Joe Biden last month but won’t go into effect until Jan. 19.

In the weeks following Biden signing the law, TikTok filed a lawsuit alleging the ban would violate the platform’s First Amendment rights. That lawsuit was followed by another similar lawsuit filed by TikTok users. Now all the parties involved are requesting the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rule by Dec. 6 on the matter.

“In light of the large number of users of the TikTok platform, the public at large has a significant interest in the prompt disposition of this matter,” the petition read.

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TikTok is owned by China-based ByteDance. The law allows Biden to decide which countries are deemed “foreign adversaries” and thus ban their apps from app stores. It was met with mixed reactions at the time as the House passed it with a 360-58 vote and the Senate voted 79-18.

TikTok previously acknowledged in a letter to the Senate it did store some information from its paid creators in China despite then-President Donald Trump’s order, called “Project Texas,” which was meant to move data to U.S. soil.