A group of nonprofits argued in a court filing that the federal law requiring TikTok’s parent company to sell the platform, or face a ban, is an unconstitutional measure that restricts expression and makes it impossible for users to join the app.
The legal document, filed Wednesday night in federal court in Washington, comes as TikTok and its Beijing-based parent ByteDance are waging a consequent legal battle against a law that would disrupt the platform’s operation in the US. Thursday is the deadline for third-party groups to submit documents in support of the two companies.
Seven nonprofit organizations signed the document, including groups that have previously expressed support for TikTok or sided with the company in a similar process against Montana last year. They include free speech and digital rights groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and The First Amendment Coalition, as well as the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which advocates for public interest journalism.
In their court filing, the nonprofits argue that the law would violate the First Amendment, echoing TikTok’s arguments in its lawsuit against the government. They say the Constitution not only protects TikTok users in the US, but the company itself. They also argue that the burden on the government to justify violations of freedom of expression is the same around issues of national security as it is around any other issue. The government’s action against TikTok also represents “a direct and serious threat” against press freedom, they argue.
The federal law, which President Joe Biden signed into law part of a larger foreign aid package in April are the US government’s attempts to address national security concerns surrounding TikTok. Lawmakers from both parties and some government officials have said TikTok’s current ownership structure poses a threat since ByteDance operates under Chinese government laws. They said Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over U.S. user data or sway public opinion toward Beijing’s interests by changing the algorithm that populates users’ feeds. But no public evidence has been provided to support either claim.
As well as civil liberties and free speech groups, many TikTok creators opposed the move, which marks the first time the US has singled out a social media company for a possible ban. It gives ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok and a possible three-month extension if the sale is ongoing. However, both companies argued that they would have to close TikTok’s US operations by January 19 because continuing to operate in the US would not be commercially, technologically or legally possible if they were forced to divest.
Last week, TikTok filed another legal petition accounting for negotiations it has had with the Biden administration since 2021. The company said it submitted a draft agreement in August 2022, but the administration “ceased any substantive negotiations” with the company after that.
The Justice Department said in a statement last week that it is eager to defend the recently enacted legislation, which it says addresses “critical national security concerns in a way that is consistent with the First Amendment and other constitutional limitations.”
