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Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Days after its claims were rejected by a U.S. federal appeals court, TikTok is asking for a pause on a new law set to take place next month that would ban the social media app unless sold by its parent company. TikTok on Monday filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asking it to prevent the legislation from forcing the shutdown on Jan. 19, while it appeals last week's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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In its court filing, the company said such a ban would cost the U.S. economy $1.3 billion in a single month, with that burden mostly affecting small businesses and content providers.
On Friday, the same court of appeals rejected arguments by lawyers for TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance, agreeing with legislation enacted by U.S. President Joe Biden.
Citing national security concerns, the Biden administration passed a law in April that would force ByteDance to either sell TikTok or have the popular short video platform face a nationwide ban.
The company and a group of its users and content providers filed a lawsuit in September, arguing such a move would violate its right to free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
In its filing Monday, the company's lawyers argued the U.S. Supreme Court should have the final say, asking the D.C.-based appeals court to halt implementation of the new law until the high court has the chance to decide whether or not to hear the case.
"Before that (ban) happens, the Supreme Court should have an opportunity, as the only court with appellate jurisdiction over this action, to decide whether to review this exceptionally important case," the court filing states.
"And an injunction is especially appropriate because it will give the incoming Administration time to determine its position-which could moot both the impending harms and the need for Supreme Court review."
Last week, the three-panel of judges with the federal appeals court agreed with lawmakers and their concerns over national security.
"Congress judged it necessary to assume that risk given the grave national-security threats it perceived. And because the record reflects that Congress's decision was considered, consistent with longstanding regulatory practice, and devoid of an institutional aim to suppress particular messages or ideas, we are not in a position to set it aside," Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote in the court's 92-page decision.
TikTok has around 170 million users in the United States.
The company said in its court filing Monday, the $1.3 billion figure would compound should the ban go into effect.
"Those numbers would only increase if the shutdown extends for more than a month," TikTok President of Global Business Solutions Blake Chandlee wrote.
