Federal appeals court declines to temporarily block ban on TikTok, teeing up showdown at SCOTUS over controversial law | Money [Video]

(CNN) — A federal appeals court on Friday declined to temporarily block a ban on TikTok, teeing up a showdown at the Supreme Court over whether the law should take effect while the social media platform’s challenge to it plays out.

Last week, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the law, clearing the way for it to take effect on January 19. Days later, TikTok asked the court to issue a temporary pause on the ban while the company asks the Supreme Court to review its challenge to the law.

The appeals court unanimously rejected that bid in a brief, unsigned order that called such a block “unwarranted.”

The law requires the platform to 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 is not sold. …