Short video sharing platform TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have filed an appeal with the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals, seeking to delay the enforcement of the Biden administration's law that forces ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban. They have hired a senior lawyer from the Trump administration's first presidential term, preparing to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hires White House Lawyer from Trump's First Term to Appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Federal Court of Appeals last week pointed out that the requirement for ByteDance to sell TikTok by early next year does not violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as TikTok has claimed. The U.S. government's actions are merely to protect American free speech from the infringement of foreign adversary countries and to limit the ability of hostile countries to collect data on the American public.
Based on these reasons, the Federal Court of Appeals ruled to uphold the order, which means if ByteDance does not sell TikTok by January 19, TikTok will be prohibited from operating in the United States.
On the local time of the 9th, ByteDance and TikTok again requested the Court of Appeals to suspend the execution of the order until a ruling is made by the Supreme Court, and have already hired a senior lawyer from President Trump's first term, preparing to appeal the U.S. TikTok case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to foreign media reports, court documents show that Francisco, who served as Deputy Attorney General during Trump's first term, will be representing TikTok along with his law firm's partner Mupan.