Due to a law that aims to make the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, sell it within nine months or face a ban in the United States, TikTok has sued the US government.
The well-known video-sharing site is attempting to stop the newly passed law, claiming that it goes against the US constitution, particularly the first amendment’s protection of free expression.
President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act on April 24. ByteDance, the Chinese parent firm of TikTok, has until January 19 of next year to sell the app to another company or risk being banned.
Congress was overwhelmingly in favor of the bill last month in response to US politicians’ concerns that China may use the app to eavesdrop on or get personal information about Americans.
TikTok claims that US lawmakers are promoting “speculative” worries and disputes that it has ever shared or will disclose user data from US citizens.
TikTok is used by over one billion users globally, with 170 million of those users residing in the United States, which has the largest user base on the network.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit received a lawsuit from TikTok and ByteDance on Tuesday, calling the action a “unprecedented violation” of the first amendment.
It read: “For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide.”
It further stated: “There is no question: the act (law) will force a shutdown of TikTok by 19 January 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.”
The company “doesn’t have any plan to sell TikTok” ByteDance had said. Even if it did, it would need Beijing’s approval, which had rejected a forced sale of the platform in the past and will probably do so again.
TikTok contends that the federal US government has to prove that a restriction on the freedom of speech is necessary before it can lawfully be implemented, and that citing national security concerns is insufficient justification for such a restriction. The dispute said it hasn’t lived up to that standard.
According to the complaint, if the legislation is kept in place, the federal government would have the authority to order news site producers among other platforms to sell or face closure on the basis of national security.
The law’s opponents contend that there are other, easier means for Chinese officials to obtain information on Americans, such as through commercial data brokers who rent or sell personal data.
As at Tuesday, the Justice Department had not commented on the lawsuit.
