- TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance sued in U.S. federal court on Tuesday seeking to block a law signed by President Joe Biden.
- The companies filed their lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, arguing that the law violates the U.S. Constitution on several grounds including running afoul of First Amendment free speech protections.
- The White House has said it wants to see Chinese-based ownership ended on national security grounds but not a ban on TikTok.
TikTok and ByteDance filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court seeking to block a law signed by President Biden that mandates the divestiture of TikTok or face a ban.
Also read: US forces TikTok to divest or face ban
TikTok demonstrates the irrationality of regulations
“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban,” the companies said in the lawsuit. The lawsuit said the divestiture “is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally. … There is no question: the Act (law) will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.”
Also read: EU threatens to ban TikTok Lite from using rewarded viewing feature
White House shows toughness against Chinese-based ownership
The White House has said it wants to see Chinese-based ownership ended on national security grounds but not a ban on TikTok. The White House and Justice Department declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Concerns over potential data access by China led to the swift passage of the legislation in Congress. TikTok denies any intention to share U.S. user data and criticises lawmakers for speculative concerns. Representative Krishnamoorthi sees the legislation as necessary to address national security threats from ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok.
