A U.S. TikTok ban is nearing for social media app after another court defeat

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Sunday. I’m your host, Andrew J. Campa. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:

• TikTok is inching closer to being banned.
• Firefighter who went missing after Long Beach dive identified, but not found.
• USDA says it will start testing milk for H5N1 bird flu virus nationwide.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

Wildly popular Chinese social media app TikTok loses again in court, faces looming ban

Perhaps no social media application more accurately provides insights into the daily lives, thought processes, ambitions and craziness/blandness of the average American than TikTok.

A quick scroll provides video posts on Thanksgiving dinner arguments, high school drama, random jokes and challenges and a whole lot of unsolicited singing.

It’s the accumulation of American data by a Chinese-owned platform that is at the center of a congressional push to ban the app.

TikTok’s future in the U.S. appears bleak after the app lost a major court battle Friday as it tries to prevent banishment.

My colleagues Wendy Lee and Andrea Chang provided an in-depth analysis on what steps are available for TikTok and legislators.

Why do legislators want to ban TikTok?

TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has faced scrutiny from U.S. government officials over how it handles user data here as well as its ties to China.

TikTok captures the attention of an estimated 150 million Americans monthly, roughly half of whom are active users, making it one of the most popular apps in the country — despite concerns about privacy, misinformation and harm to young users.

In April, President Biden signed into law a provision that allows for TikTok to be banned in the U.S. if it wasn’t sold within nine months, which is Jan. 19. Biden could grant a one-time extension of 90 days before then too.

Legislators backing the law said a ban or sale was necessary to address national security concerns posed by the app’s ties to China.

U.S. Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland welcomed the ruling on the ban, saying the court’s decision affirms that the TikTok legislation is consistent with the Constitution.

“Today’s decision is an important step in blocking the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to collect sensitive information about millions of Americans, to covertly manipulate the content delivered to American audiences, and to undermine our national security,” Garland said in a statement.

What’s the most recent update?

TikTok sued the government in May, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals to declare the law unconstitutional.

TikTok had said in its lawsuit that the law violated its 1st Amendment rights to free speech. The company contended that the law “offers no support for the idea” that its Chinese ownership poses national security risks.

“On the merits, we reject each of the petitioners’ constitutional claims,” Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote in the court’s decision issued Friday.

“The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” Ginsburg wrote. “Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.”

What would a ban mean?

A blockage of TikTok could affect the livelihoods of many Southern California video creators who post content on the platform and make a lot of money doing so.

Small businesses rely on TikTok to tout their products and video creators have moved to L.A. to be closer to its Culver City office. The company employs roughly 500 people in Culver City, according to city data.

What’s the next step?

Legal experts expect TikTok will appeal its case to the Supreme Court.

“The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” TikTok spokesman Michael Hughes said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people.”

President-elect Donald Trump, who campaigned on supporting TikTok, could also offer aid.

Once Trump is in the White House, he has a couple of options.

He could attempt to sway Congress to modify or repeal the law; instruct his administration to not enforce the law; or direct the Department of Justice to not defend the government in TikTok’s lawsuit if it goes to the Supreme Court.

“Ultimately, the President’s options may be limited,” said Anthony Rapa, a Washington, D.C.-based partner and co-chair of law firm Blank Rome’s international trade practice.

The week’s biggest stories

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Missing people

• L.A. firefighter who went missing after Long Beach dive identified, but he hasn’t been found.
• Cornell grad Jahnay Bryan vanished in L.A., loved ones say, and the search for her has stalled.
• L.A. ‘missing women’ cases go viral online, even as the facts get complicated

Election and the road to inauguration

• A bright spot for Democrats as voters shifted right: Flipping 3 House seats in California.
• A city council race was tied so this California city drew straws to decide who won.

Earthquakes, tsunamis and wildfires

• The California tsunami danger is real. The magnitude 7.0 earthquake is a wake-up call to prepare.
• 7.0 earthquake rattles Northern California, spurs anxiety before tsunami warning is canceled.
• Wildfire season isn’t over in SoCal. Warm weekend followed by Santa Ana winds elevates danger.

Crime, courts and policing

• Japanese Americans’ pain over their mass incarceration has been minimized. New essays let them speak.
• Women once held in California ‘rape club’ prison reach historic settlement to protect inmates.
• His father killed a boy with a meat cleaver. He’s being investigated in the killing of a minor with an axe.
• Alleged white supremacist with six strikes charged with murder in pursuit crash death.
• Police looking for suspects in fatal shooting during Mid-City robbery.

Holiday season

• Mariah Carey debunks Spotify video after AI theory: Just ‘bad lighting and a red lip.’
• Why the Forest Service is encouraging people to cut Christmas trees on public lands (with permits).
• Disneyland’s holiday fest dazzles with Latin traditions and a candlelit ‘Silent Night.’
• These are the 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles.

More big stories

• Are Rams, Chargers playoff threats? Facing best teams in AFC could prove telltale.
• California to roll out the nation’s first Southeast Asian school curriculum.
• Prep talk: Corona Centennial has 18 consecutive seasons with scholarship quarterbacks.
• He lost his business in a massive freeway fire a year ago. At 70, he’s starting over.
• Measles exposure reported at LAX, Orange County children’s hospital. Who is at risk?
• U.S. job growth bounces back in November, a reassuring sign that the labor market remains healthy.

Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.

Column One

Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and longform journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Questions about that day come year-round but nothing like November and December. The answers have grown into stories, now briefer than before but still mostly complete. Details sometimes get jumbled, but no one complains. For 100, everyone says, Bob Fernandez is doing great. “You can tell my story if you want,” he says, “but sometimes I’m not all here.”

More great reads

• Column: No one is on the fence about the ‘obscenity’ in Griffith Park: chain-link trail barriers.
• L.A.’s mountain lions become more nocturnal to avoid people. Does it come at a cost?
• Column: MLS deal with Apple TV could be hurting league’s efforts to grow its fan base.
• She gave her drab L.A. apartment a stunning makeover for $2,500.
• Their dusty ol’ swap meet near Joshua Tree has closed. Residents are heartbroken.
• How does a holiday tradition shine for 104 years? Meet Altadena’s village of volunteers.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].

For your weekend

(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph from Peden + Munk)

Going out

• 🍳 Recipe developer and food personality Molly Baz cooks up her ideal Sunday Funday with breakfast at Glassell Park’s Bub and Grandma’s.
• 🍸 Seeking a merry cocktail? Here are 11 holiday pop-up bars to visit in Southern California this season.
• 🎨 Photorealist paintings finally get their respect at MOCA’s latest show.
• 🌳 Feeling stressed? Roll down a grassy hill. We tested the best ones in L.A. County.

Staying in

• 🕊️ Actor Keira Knightley stars as a mother and an assassin in the Netflix thriller “Black Doves.”
• 📚 De Los Reads: 6 books by Latino authors we’re reading that celebrate heritage in December.
• 🧑‍🍳 What’s the holidays without a little eggnog? Here’s our Food team’s special recipe.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, Sudoku, word search and arcade games.

L.A. Affairs

Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.

(Alyah Holmes / For The Times)

She was a sophomore at Scripps College in Claremont when she first entered a mosque as a volunteer tutor. She had never met a Muslim, but ran into a fetching and dark-haired curly fellow female volunteer. Their attraction was as instant as the realization that a relationship wouldn’t work for either of their conservative worlds. Yet, they text-flirted over a month, fell in love and explored Los Angeles together. Would their love last or would obstacles prove too difficult to overcome?

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Carlos Lozano, news editor

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