Court upholds law ordering ByteDance to divest app [Video]

A federal appeals court on Friday cited national security concerns as it upheld a law requiring China-based ByteDance to sell the popular social media app TikTok next month or face an effective ban in the United States.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., rejected TikTok’s argument that the law is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment rights of the 170 million Americans who use the app.

TikTok said later Friday that it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court decision.

If ByteDance fails to sell TikTok by Jan. 19, the law would require app store companies, such as Apple and Google, and internet hosting providers to stop supporting TikTok, which would effectively ban the app.

President Joe Bidensigned the law in April after members of Congress from both parties raised concerns about TikTok’s alleged connections to the Communist …