A federal appeals court has refused to temporarily block TikTok’s ban on the controversial law from fighting SCOTUS.

CNN
—

A federal appeals court on Friday refused to temporarily block TikTok’s ban while the social media platform’s challenge to whether the law should go into effect plays out at the Supreme Court.

Last week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the law, clearing the way for it to take effect on January 19. Days later, TikTok asked a judge to temporarily put the ban on hold while the company seeks a Supreme Court review. challenge to his law.

The appeals court unanimously rejected that bid in an unsigned short order that called the block “unfair.”

The law requires that the platform be sold to a new non-Chinese owner or be banned in the United States. After the January deadline, US app stores and internet services could face hefty fines for hosting TikTok if it doesn’t sell. (According to the legislation, the president can grant only one extension of the deadline.)

The company has indicated in court filings that if the appeals court refuses to grant a temporary injunction, it would ask the Supreme Court to urgently intervene to block the law for the time being. That request could come at any time.

The company’s lawyers argued before the appeals court that refusing to temporarily block the law would force the Supreme Court to consider the case in its so-called shadow docket “in the off-season (and over the holidays, no less).”

“Out of respect for the vital role of the Supreme Court, this Court should issue a temporary injunction that allows for a more deliberate and orderly process,” the court papers read.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, asked the appeals court not to grant a temporary block on the law, saying that if it did so the company could wait months to appeal the case to the Supreme Court, halting the law indefinitely.

This is a developing story and will be updated.