TikTok sues US government over law that could ban the app

TikTok is suing the United States government in an attempt to block a law that would ban TikTok if its parent company, ByteDance, fails to sell it within a year. The suit, filed Tuesday, claims the bill violates the U.S. Constitution. TikTok argues that the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s commitment to “both free speech and individual liberty.”

“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted legislation that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent nationwide ban and prohibits every American from participating in a single online community counting more than a billion people worldwide,” the lawsuit reads. bed. “This law – the Protecting Americans from Apps Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act (the “Act”) – is unconstitutional. »

The lawsuit comes two weeks after President Biden signed the bill, which included aid to Ukraine and Israel. The bill gives ByteDance until January 19 to sell the app or face a ban, bringing the possibility of a TikTok ban closer than ever.

TikTok says the U.S. government has provided no evidence to support its claims that the app poses national security risks.

“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 lawsuit states.

TikTok goes on to claim that the law does indeed seek to ban the app, arguing that it is not possible to sell TikTok within the 270-day deadline it was given.

“Petitioners repeatedly explained this to the U.S. government, and the law’s sponsors knew that divestment was not possible,” the lawsuit says. “There is no doubt: The law will force the shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, thereby silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere. »

Even if ByteDance wanted to sell the app, the Chinese government would likely block a sale because it would need to approve the transfer of TikTok’s algorithms. TikTok goes on to state that a sale would be technologically impossible, as “millions of lines of software code” would have to be transferred to a new owner.

The lawsuit follows four years of allegations by the U.S. government that TikTok’s ties to China pose a national security risk and expose Americans’ sensitive information to the Chinese government. TikTok has denied the allegations and said it spent $2 billion to protect U.S. user data.

Lawmakers also argued that TikTok has the potential to influence public opinion by deciding what it shows users in its “For You” feed.

When the US government sought to ban TikTok during the Trump administration, TikTok considered selling its US operations to an American company. Potential candidates included Oracle, Microsoft and Walmart, but none of those deals came to fruition. This time around, reports indicated that ByteDance would rather shut down TikTok than sell it.