TikTok is suing the US government over a law that seeks to force the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell it within nine months or ban its use in the United States.
The popular video-sharing platform is attempting to block the recently passed bill, arguing that it violates the U.S. Constitution, including the First Amendment that protects freedom of speech.
The bill, officially known as the Protecting Americans from Solicitations Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act, was signed by President Joe Biden on April 24 and gives TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, until January 19 next year to sell the app to another company or face a ban.
The measure passed Congress overwhelmingly last month amid concerns among U.S. politicians that China could access data on Americans or spy on them with the app.
Tik Tok denies that it has or would ever share US user data, accusing US politicians of pushing “speculative” concerns.
More than one billion people use TikTok worldwide, including 170 million in the United States, which is the country with the largest audience for the platform.
The lawsuit, which was filed by TikTok and ByteDance in Washington on Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, called the law an “unprecedented violation” of the First Amendment.
It said: “For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single named speech platform to a permanent nationwide ban, prohibiting all Americans from participating in a single online community with more than a thousand millions of people around the world.”
It also said: “There is no doubt: the law (law) will force TikTok to shut down by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.”
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Will the United States ban TikTok?
ByteDance has said it has “no plans to sell TikTok.” But even if it wanted to, the company would have to get the go-ahead from Beijing, which previously opposed a forced sale of the platform and has voiced its opposition this time.
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TikTok maintains that invoking national security concerns is not a sufficient reason to restrict free speech, and the burden falls on the US federal government to demonstrate that this restriction is justified. He has not met that burden, according to the lawsuit.
Why is TikTok facing a ban in the US?
TikTok, which attracted around 170 million American users in seven years, has taken the United States by storm. But there have long been concerns in Washington about Chinese ownership of the social media platform.
Beijing-based technology company ByteDance originally launched the Chinese version of the app called Douyin, which means “shaking sound,” in 2016. They followed up with an international version, TikTok, in November 2017.
Since then, the platform has had a meteoric rise. Fueled by its popularity among Generation Z, it has become an influential social media platform. But it has become a target for both sides of the political spectrum in Washington, as well as other Western countries, due to fears over the use of user data.
US politicians and officials have expressed concern that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over US user data. TikTok has said it has never done that and wouldn’t do it if asked. There are also fears about the influence on Americans by suppressing or promoting certain content on TikTok.
The use of TikTok by the federal government’s nearly four million employees on devices owned by their agencies is already prohibited in the United States, with limited exceptions for law enforcement, national security, and security investigation purposes. There is also a similar ban on civil servants in the United Kingdom.
India was the first country to ban TikTok in 2020 following a violent clash on the India-China border that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. Interestingly, TikTok is also not available in app stores in China, where the Internet is strictly controlled by the state, and Douyin is used instead.
In March, TikTok’s CEO directly appealed to American users to stop the bill forcing the sale of the app and accused US lawmakers of trying to shut down the platform. In a video posted on the platform, Shou Zi Chew told users that the bill “will lead to the ban of TikTok in the United States,” adding: “Even the sponsors of the bill admit that this is their goal.” .
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The lawsuit claimed that if the law remains in effect, it would allow the federal government to force publishers of other platforms, including news sites, to sell them or shut them down, citing national security concerns.
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Opponents of the law argue that Chinese authorities could easily obtain information about Americans in other ways, including through commercial data brokers that rent or sell personal information.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday.