TikTok accelerates request to US Supreme Court to avoid platform closure

TikTok faces a legal battle in the United States to avoid the sale of its operations in the country or even a possible closure. The social network, controlled by the Chinese company ByteDance, is trying to get more time with the Supreme Court to challenge a law that requires sales by January 19th. If the decision is not reviewed, the future of the platform in the country will be under the influence of politicians, with a scenario still uncertain after Trump's inauguration.

Court decision reinforces urgency for TikTok

Last Friday, the 13th, a US appeals court rejected TikTok and ByteDance's request to suspend an order to sell the platform's operations in the United States. The deadline for complying with the measure is January 19, the date that coincides with Donald Trump's inauguration. The court's decision indicated that there is no legal justification to prevent the application of the law while the case remains under review at the Supreme Court, which increases pressure on the platform.

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_{TikTok logo being displayed on a smartphone, with ByteDance visible in the background (Photo: reproduction/Jonathan Raa/Getty Images Embed/NurPhoto)}

Legal battle could reach the Supreme Court

TikTok and ByteDance have already announced that they will appeal to the Supreme Court, which will have the final say on the platform's fate. The companies' arguments highlight the risk of closing the social network, which has more than 170 million monthly users in the USA. In defense, the company claims that its data is stored locally on Oracle servers and that content moderation decisions are made in the United States. However, the Department of Justice's accusation is that Chinese control of the application represents a threat to national security. The final decision, which could influence the future of TikTok, will depend on a possible intervention by the new government or the elected president.

Featured photo: TikTok logo (Reproduction/Celal Gunes/Getty Images Embed/Anadolu)