A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit signaled skepticism of TikTok’s argument Monday that the law signed by President Biden banning the video-sharing app would violate the company’s free speech rights.

TikTok will be in federal court on Monday, aiming to block a new law that will ban the popular video app in the United States early next year.

Even as both the Harris and Trump presidential campaigns have leaned heavily into TikTok to reach younger voters, the weeks are ticking down before the wildly popular app is banned in the United States under a new law that has drawn bipartisan backing.

Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan pressed TikTok on whether a company based outside of the United States can bring a First Amendment challenge to a federal regulation.

Under the law, ByteDance would have to sell TikTok — a sale that the Chinese government has said is illegal under Chinese law — or see it banned in the United States as of January 19, 2025. ByteDance, TikTok, and “creators” who post on the app have challenged the law, arguing (among other things) that it violates the First Amendment.

Justice Department lawyer Daniel Tenny pressed the U.S. government's stance that TikTok, under Chinese ownership, poses a national security threat because of its access to vast amounts of personal data on Americans, asserting that China can covertly manipulate information that Americans consume via the popular app.

TikTok on Monday pushed back against a law that would force the popular video app to sell to a non-Chinese owner or be banned, in what is shaping up to be a landmark case.

Judges are considering the validity of legislation that could shut down the Chinese-backed app used by half of Americans.

ByteDance and several TikTok users contend the law violates their First Amendment rights; the government says the app's Chinese ownership is a national security risk TikTok and its Chinese owner, ByteDance,

Andrew Pincus, the lawyer arguing for TikTok and ByteDance, told Judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao and Douglas Ginsburg that the U.S. government had not demonstrated that TikTok ac