A D.C. appeals court rejected TikTok and its parent company ByteDance’s request to temporarily suspend a law that would have forced ByteDance to withdraw from TikTok or face a ban in the United States. 24 Channels with reference Reuters.

The decision means TikTok will be blocked on January 19 unless it is overturned. Moreover, tech giants Apple and Google have been instructed to prepare to remove the app from their stores.

Earlier this week, TikTok and ByteDance filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals seeking more time for the case to be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court. The companies argued that, if implemented, the law would unjustly lead to the closure of one of the most popular platforms in the United States, used by more than 170 million local users every month.

But an appeals court rejected that petition, saying TikTok failed to cite any precedent in which a court could block a congressional law pending Supreme Court review.

What do they want from TikTok?

The law requires ByteDance to give up ownership of TikTok or face a US ban. It also gives the U.S. government broad powers to block other foreign apps that might pose a risk of collecting personal data of U.S. citizens.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) claims that ByteDance’s continued control of TikTok poses a “threat to national security”, citing concerns about the Chinese government’s possible access to US users’ data.

However, TikTok claims that the app’s user data is stored on Oracle servers in the US and that content moderation decisions affecting US users are made by local teams in the country, not China.

Will TikTok be blocked in the US?

Unless the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the law, President Joe Biden will have the authority to grant ByteDance a 90-day grace period, starting Jan. 19, to comply with the sale order. However, this deadline coincides with the transfer of power on January 20, when Donald Trump will take office.

Although Trump tried and failed to ban TikTok during his previous presidency, he said during his last election campaign that he would not allow the platform to be blocked.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the US House of Representatives China Committee instructed Apple and Google to prepare to remove TikTok from app stores on January 19 if ByteDance does not comply with the law.