ByteDance, TikTok seek temporary halt to US crackdown law
Al JazeeraThe companies have asked an appeals court to temporarily block the law that would enforce a ban on the app in the United States. China-based ByteDance and its short-video app TikTok have asked an appeals court to temporarily block a law that would require that parent company ByteDance divest TikTok by January 19 or face a ban, pending a review by the United States Supreme Court. On Friday, a three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld the law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok in the US by early next year or face a ban in just six weeks. The US Department of Justice said the appeals court should quickly deny the request “to maximize the time available for the Supreme Court’s consideration” of petitions from ByteDance and TikTok. Francisco, who served as US solicitor general during Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration, will represent TikTok along with his partner Hashim Mooppan at law firm Jones Day, court papers show.