Two California investors filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on March 5, challenging the legality of the Trump administration’s handling of TikTok’s court-mandated divestiture. The petitioners, software engineers Zhaocheng Anthony Tan, a shareholder in Alphabet Inc., and Garrett Reid, a shareholder in Meta Platforms, name President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi as respondents.

The Alleged Violations

The petition argues that Trump violated the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act by issuing five divestiture deadline extensions between January 2025 and September 2025, totaling more than 450 days. The law permitted only a single 90-day extension, contingent on the President certifying to Congress that binding legal agreements were in place. The petition alleges Trump made no such certifications.

The deal announced on January 22, 2026, in which Oracle, MGX, Silver Lake, and affiliates of Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic acquired TikTok’s U.S. operations for $14 billion, also allegedly violated the statute. Under the law, a qualified divestiture requires that no “operational relationship” exist between the divested U.S. entity and any formerly affiliated foreign adversary-controlled company. 

The petition identifies three alleged violations: ByteDance retains ownership of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm, which it licenses to the new U.S. entity; ByteDance subsidiaries continue managing TikTok U.S.’s e-commerce, advertising, and marketing operations; and ByteDance’s global TikTok CEO, Shou Chew, holds a seat on TikTok U.S.’s board.

“Under the current deal, ByteDance, which is allied with the Chinese government, continues to own TikTok’s recommendation algorithm,” the petition states. “It can therefore promote the speech it favors, suppress the speech it disfavors, and collect data on users, exactly as Congress feared.”

Investor Impact

The petitioners argue that the unlawful extensions and deal approval directly harmed shareholders of TikTok competitors. Alphabet’s stock rose when the TikTok law was signed and when the Supreme Court affirmed its constitutionality, then fell when the sale framework was announced in September 2025 and again when the deal closed in January 2026. Meta’s stock followed the same pattern.

“For the law to mean something, it must be followed, even, perhaps especially, by the President,” the petition states. “Respondents have violated the statute and subverted the will of Congress.”

Relief Sought

The petitioners ask the court to declare the extensions, the failure to investigate, and the TikTok sale unlawful, and to direct the Attorney General to investigate violations of the statute as required by law. “Petitioners bring this case to ensure that such violations, and such subversion, do not continue,” the filing states.

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