TikTok sues US government to overturn law banning app

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TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have filed a lawsuit challenging a new US law signed by President Biden.
The law could either force TikTok to split from ByteDance or ban the app in the United States, citing national security concerns.
TikTok argues that the law unfairly targets it and violates First Amendment rules on free speech.
The company also claims that the requirement to sell TikTok is not feasible – commercially, technologically or legally.

TikTok has been on ice since President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Apps Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act in April, but the company is suing to stay afloat.

CNN reports that the short-form video platform and its parent company, ByteDance, have filed a petition with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to challenge the new law that requires the app to separate from ByteDance or otherwise prohibit it. the country. TikTok says the law unfairly targets it and is unconstitutional.

Last month, as part of an aid package to Ukraine and Israel, President Biden signed a new law that gives ByteDance nine months to divest TikTok or shut it down in the United States for reasons of national security. However, the complaint claims the government has failed to provide evidence that the Chinese government has abused TikTok.

“Statements by congressional committees and individual members of Congress during the rushed, closed-door legislative process preceding the law’s enactment confirm that there is at most speculation, not ‘evidence,’ as l ‘requires the First Amendment,” the filing states.

The company adds that the law violates the First Amendment’s free speech rules and is impossible to follow anyway. TikTok explains that the platform’s sales requirement is impossible from a commercial, technological and legal point of view.

TikTok icon

(Image credit: Jay Bonggolto / Android Central)

TikTok has less than a year from the date President Biden signed the act to find an American buyer or face being shut down.

But even if ByteDance were willing to sell TikTok, the Chinese government would likely prevent the sale because it must approve the transfer of TikTok’s algorithms. TikTok also mentions that a sale would be tricky, explaining that “millions of lines of software code” would have to be transferred to a new owner.

When the US government first attempted to ban TikTok during the Trump administration, ByteDance considered selling its US operations to an American company. However, talks about selling to Oracle, Microsoft or even Walmart fell through and apparently ByteDance is not interested in a repeat and would prefer to shut down TikTok in the United States.

This trial is the latest chapter in a drama that has lasted for years. The U.S. government has repeatedly said TikTok’s ties to China pose a security risk, fearing that U.S. user data could be leaked. TikTok denies everything, claiming to have spent tons of money to protect the trove of data.