TikTok facing ban in the US after losing court fight over links to China

TikTok could be banned in the US after losing a legal battle (Richard Vogel/AP)

A federal appeals court panel on Friday upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the US.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the law, which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January, is constitutional, rebuffing TikTok’s challenge that the statute ran afoul of the First Amendment and unfairly targeted the platform.