Chinese social media app TikTok today asked a court for an emergency injunction to prevent it from becoming unavailable to U.S. users next month.

Last Friday, the company lost an appeal to save its existence in the U.S. when it argued in an appeals court that the ban signed into legislation earlier in 2024 is unconstitutional given the “staggering” impact it would have on the 170 million users in the U.S and what that means for free speech. For years now, American officials have argued that the app poses a national security risk, something TikTok and its parent company BytDance Ltd. have denied.

Right now, it’s looking as though if the app doesn’t sell itself off by Jan. 19, it will be gone in the U.S. The company now hopes the Supreme Court will issue an injunction on a ban it says will cause “extreme and irreparable harm” to its users.

“Estimates show that small businesses on TikTok would lose more than $1 billion in revenue and creators would suffer almost $300 million in lost earnings in just one month unless the TikTok Ban is halted,” TikTok said. “In 2023 alone, the advertising, marketing, and organic reach on TikTok contributed $24.2 billion, and TikTok’s own operations contributed an additional $8.5 billion to the U.S. GDP.”

The Department of Justice, DOJ, said this new request should be dismissed, stating that the arguments have already been “definitively rejected.” The DOJ has been outspoken about the risk the app poses to U.S. national security, believing it is under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. At the hearing on Friday, the court agreed, stating that the bipartisan Act to ban the app, “was carefully crafted to deal only with control by a foreign adversary, and it was part of a broader effort to counter a well substantiated national security threat posed by the PRC.”

On TikTok’s side are advocates for free speech, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation, which both signed an open letter this year saying that the ban would “set an alarming global precedent for excessive government control over social media platforms” and infringe on the rights of U.S. citizens.

The firm is also hoping that President-elect Donald Trump might step in and stop the ban. Trump had supported the ban during his first term but in later years he’s said he no longer supports it. In a recent interview, he was asked what he would do and replied, “I used TikTok very successfully in my campaign… And I used TikTok, so I can’t really, you know, I can’t totally hate it. It was very effective.” When asked again, he was just as elusive, saying, “I’m going to try and make it so that other companies don’t become an even bigger monopoly.”

As things stand, President Biden could grant a 90-day extension on the ban but only if it looks like the sale is making significant progress.

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