A United States federal appeals court has upheld a law banning social media juggernaut TikTok in the country by refusing to consider three requests for relief from TikTok and its parent company ByteDance.

In its vote Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it found the petitions unconstitutional. However, the court’s ruling does not mean that TikTok is already banned.

ByteDance has until the bill takes effect on January 19, 2025 to divest TikTok and sell the social media app to prevent it from being banned in the United States

Why does the US want to ban TikTok?

Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act in the spring. Joe Biden signed the bill saying the Chinese-owned app posed a national security risk to government officials.

That opinion has been widely shared by Republicans and Democrats since former President and current President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in 2019 after finding that “foreign adversaries” were “exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technologies and services,” according to the report Federal appeals court opinion says. As part of his response, Trump banned all transactions with the company.

But in July, Trump changed his stance on banning TikTok. “I’m for TikTok because you need competition. If you don’t have TikTok, you have Facebook and Instagram,” Trump told Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

When does the TikTok ban come into effect?

TikTok will be effectively banned in the US once the law goes into effect on January 19, 2025. ByteDance could prevent the ban from taking effect by selling the app until then, but the company has shown no interest in doing so.

What will happen to TikTok app after it is banned?

After January 19, 2025, it will be illegal to download TikTok from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store on Android devices. Internet service providers must also prevent access to the app in browsers in the United States

Anyone who still has the app on their cell phone or tablet after the ban can continue to use it, but will no longer be able to obtain software updates from app stores in the future.

What’s next for TikTok?

The Federal Appeals Court’s decision does not mean the end for TikTok. TikTok and ByteDance have rejected claims that the app poses a national security risk and are expected to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

Reuters reported on Friday that TikTok expects the Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court’s decision based on the First Amendment.

“The Supreme Court has a proven historical track record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect it will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” TikTok said in a statement.

Biden also has the option of granting a 90-day extension of the January deadline if ByteDance provides evidence that it is serious about selling the social media app.

This article originally appeared in the Pensacola News Journal: Is TikTok now banned in the US? Not quite. Here’s what you should know