A U.S. court has declined to freeze the law banning the social media platform TikTok.

The lawyers for TikTok and its parent company ByteDance requested the court to allow them to refrain from selling the service while the Supreme Court considers their appeal against the law. The appeal deemed the request to be unfounded.

The law banning the TikTok social network in the U.S. was passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden earlier this year. The authors and supporters of the bill argue that the Chinese social network, which has gained explosive popularity in the American market, could potentially share American users' personal data with the Chinese government, posing a threat to the country's national security.

TikTok claims that the Chinese authorities would not approve the sale of the division. The company has labeled the law as a violation of the rights of 170 million American users of the service.

If the law is not suspended, the popular app will cease operations by January 19. Otherwise, the owners face a fine of $850 billion. Companies providing social media hosting or update services, including Apple and Google, could each be fined $85 billion.

President-elect Donald Trump promised during his campaign to "save" the platform. However, his inauguration is scheduled for January 20 – if the law remains in effect, TikTok will be blocked in the U.S. within a day.