Video app TikTok is turning to the US Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to avoid a ban in the United States. If Chinese parent company ByteDance doesn’t sell TikTok’s US units, the app will be banned from Google and Apple’s US stores starting January 19.

The ban is part of a law that went into effect in April. The reasoning is that China can use the video app to access US data and exert political influence. TikTok and Bytedance have already challenged the ban in court, arguing that it violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression. But so far, they have been unsuccessful.

US President Joe Biden could extend the deadline by three months, but that would require progress in negotiations on a sale. TikTok has so far refused to sell its US assets.

If the court does not intervene, TikTok will disappear from the Apple and Google app stores on January 19. This means that new users will no longer be able to download the app, and registered users will also no longer have access to it.

The next US president, Donald Trump, opposed TikTok during his previous term but has since changed his mind. At a press conference earlier this week, he said he has “a soft spot in my heart” for TikTok – the app helped him reach young voters during the election campaign – and will look into the issue after being sworn in.

TikTok claims to have 170 million users in the United States.