TikTok has launched a long-awaited legal fight to stop its Chinese owner from being forced to sell the short-video platform’s U.S. operations, arguing that it violates Americans’ rights to free speech.
TikTok and Chinese parent company ByteDance were told in April that they had until January next year to divest TikTok in the US or face the prospect of the app being banned in the country.
The legislation, signed by President Joe Biden, gives the U.S. government the power to require such sales for national security reasons.
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The concern in this case centers on the perceived risks that data on TikTok’s 170 million American users could be collected by Beijing and that TikTok could be forced by Chinese authorities to spy on them.
It insisted that it is not about trying to ban TikTok, but Thursday’s order countered that this was the inevitable conclusion if the new law were to stand.
ByteDance said the sale was “not technologically, commercially or legally possible.”
The documents also argue that the law violates Americans’ rights to free speech under the Constitution and revealed $2 billion spent on efforts to protect US users’ data.
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According to a document released at the same time, the pair pledged to empower the US government – described as a “safety switch” – to suspend TikTok in the country if it failed to meet a series of national and data security commitments. .
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hear arguments on lawsuits filed by TikTok, ByteDance
and TikTok users on September 16th.
“This law represents a radical departure from this country’s tradition of championing an open Internet and establishes a dangerous
precedent that allows political branches to target a disfavored speech platform and force it to sell or shut down,” ByteDance and TikTok stated in their application.
“This administration has determined that it would rather try to shut down TikTok in the United States and eliminate a
speech platform for 170 million Americans, instead of continuing to work on a practical, viable, and effective solution
solution to protect U.S. users through an enforceable agreement,” TikTok’s lawyers said.
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They argue that if the national security law culminates in a ban on TikTok, it should apply to other Chinese-owned entities in the US.
The legal fight is expected to become an election issue as former President Donald Trump, who recently joined TikTok, has spoken out against the ban.
Much may depend on the public’s reaction to the upcoming legal case, with millions of younger voters likely to be upset if a possible shutdown of TikTok appears likely.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
