TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance are suing the US over a law that would ban the popular video-sharing app unless it is sold to another company.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday may be setting up what could be a protracted legal fight over TikTok’s future in the United States.
The popular social video company alleged that the law, which President Joe Biden signed as part of a larger $95 billion foreign aid package, is so “patently unconstitutional” that the sponsors of the Protecting Americans from Spy Enforcement Act of Foreign Adversaries are trying to portray the law not as a ban, but as a regulation of TikTok’s ownership.
“Congress took the unprecedented step of singling out and expressly banning TikTok: a vibrant online forum for protected speech and expression used by 170 million Americans to create, share and view videos across the Internet,” ByteDance said in its filing . “For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single named speech platform to a permanent national ban and prohibits all Americans from participating in a unique online community of more than a billion people around the world.”
The law requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform within nine months. If the sale is already underway, the company will have another three months to complete the deal. ByteDance said it has “no plans to sell TikTok.” But even if it wanted to divest, the company would have to get approval from Beijing, which previously opposed the forced sale of the platform and this time signaled its opposition.
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TikTok and ByteDance argued in the lawsuit that they really aren’t being given a choice.
“The ‘qualified divestment’ required by law to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally,” they said.
Under the law, TikTok will be forced to close by January 19, 2025, according to the lawsuit.
The parties argued that they should be protected by the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. They seek a declaratory ruling that the law violates the U.S. Constitution; an order prohibiting Attorney General Merrick Garland from enforcing the law and any additional measures the court may deem appropriate.
The fight over TikTok comes as U.S.-China relations shift toward intense strategic rivalry, especially in areas such as advanced technologies and data security, seen as essential to each country’s economic prowess and national security.
US lawmakers from both parties, as well as administrative and law enforcement officials, have expressed concern that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over US user data or influence public opinion by manipulating the algorithm that populates users’ feeds. Some also pointed to a Rutgers University study that claims TikTok content was being amplified or underrepresented based on how it aligns with Chinese government interests, which the company disputes.
Opponents of the law argue that Chinese authorities — or any nefarious parties — could easily obtain information about Americans in other ways, including through commercial data brokers that rent or sell personal information. They note that the US government has not provided public evidence showing that TikTok shares US user information with Chinese authorities or changes its algorithm for China’s benefit. They also say attempts to ban the app could violate free speech rights in the US.
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, expects TikTok’s challenge to the ban to be successful.
“The First Amendment means that the government cannot restrict Americans’ access to foreign ideas, information, or media without a good reason for doing so – and there is no such reason here,” Jaffer said in a printed statement.
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AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman contributed to this story from New York.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
