Will TikTok be banned in January? Here's where things stand as deadline nears

(NEXSTAR) – You may not be able to doomscroll on TikTok much longer unless the social media company finds a way to stop a new law from going into effect.

The rule, which was signed into law in April, requires TikTok to break ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance before January 19 or it will be banned in the U.S.

Lawmakers have been urging ByteDance to divest by the deadline so Americans can stay on the app, but that hasn't happened. Instead, the company has been fighting the law in court, arguing it violates the First Amendment. But last week, a federal appeals court panel unanimously upheld the law.

TikTok and ByteDance are appealing to the Supreme Court, though it's unclear whether the court will take up the case. An injunction could also halt the law from going into effect and give the nation's highest court more time to consider the case.

If the current status of the law holds, TikTok will be banned on January 19 – one day before President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office. Trump tried to ban TikTok during his first term, but promised during the presidential campaign he would "save TikTok."

If the ban goes into place, it will require app stores and internet browsers to stop distributing TikTok or face penalties, reports Mashable.

What happens if ByteDance divests from TikTok?

Even if ByteDance did agree to divest to allow Americans to stay on the app, it's not an easy path forward.

First, there needs to be a buyer willing to fork over enough money to purchase TikTok. Big tech companies could afford it, but would likely face intense scrutiny from antitrust regulators in both the U.S. and China.

If a sale were to go through, the new U.S.-based TikTok would have to completely cut ties with ByteDance. That includes no more “cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm or an agreement with respect to data sharing.”

Attorneys for the two companies say any sale of TikTok without the coveted algorithm — the platform’s secret sauce that Chinese authorities would likely block under any divesture plan — would turn the U.S. version of TikTok into an island disconnected from other global content.

Why did lawmakers vote to ban TikTok?

The U.S. has said it’s concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data, including sensitive information on viewing habits, that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials have also warned the proprietary algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect.

TikTok has long denied it could be used by Beijing to spy on or manipulate Americans. Its attorneys have accurately pointed out that the U.S. hasn’t provided evidence to show that the company handed over user data to the Chinese government, or manipulated content for Beijing’s benefit in the U.S. They have also argued the law is predicated on future risks, which the Department of Justice has emphasized pointing in part to unspecified action it claims the two companies have taken in the past due to demands from the Chinese government.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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