TikTok must now escalate its case to the United States Supreme Court to halt a law that requires its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the app by January 19.

This decision follows the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denying TikTok’s emergency motion for additional time.

The appeals court ruled unanimously, stating that TikTok and ByteDance did not reference any precedent where a constitutional challenge to a Congressional act led to the law being blocked during Supreme Court review.

TikTok plans to pursue the case further, citing concerns over free speech and noting that it has over 170 million monthly users in the U.S.

A spokesperson for TikTok said the Supreme Court has historically upheld free speech rights for Americans.

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