Tikok files motion in court to stop 2025 U.S. ban

Short video social media platform TikTok has filed a motion in court to stop the ruling that will ban the platform in the U.S. in 2025.

In a tweet on 9 December, TikTok Policy said it has filed an emergency injunction to this effect until its appeal on the ruling by the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit is heard by the US Supreme Court.

What happened

TikTok has been in a number of legal troubles with U.S. regulators concerning the type of content on the platform. However, last week, there was a ruling placing a ban on the Chinese social media platform that is to be effective from 19 January 2025.

In response, TikTok released a statement last week saying:

“The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue. Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people. The TikTok ban, unless stopped, will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025.”

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In addition, it has gone further to file a motion to stop the ruling from taking effect until the Supreme Court hears its appeal. 

TikTok argues that the ban will lead to U.S. small businesses on the platform losing more than $1 billion in revenue and creators would suffer almost $300 million in lost earnings in just one month.

According to the company,

“In 2023 alone, the advertising, marketing, and organic reach on TikTok contributed $24.2 billion, and TikTok’s own operations contributed an additional $8.5 billion to the U.S. GDP.”

The filing states that TikTok intends to buy time for the incoming government led by Donald Trump to also review the case, and is demanding for a response by 16 December to enable it to secure an emergency relief from the Supreme court if necessary.