image source, Getty Images
- author, Natalie Sherman
- role, new york business reporter
TikTok has filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking a U.S. law that bans video apps in the country unless their Chinese parent company sells them.
The social media company said in its filing that the action was an “extraordinary violation of the free speech rights” of the company and its 170 million U.S. users.
The United States said it presented only “speculative concerns” to justify the move and asked the court to halt it.
The move follows years of debate in Washington, which has argued that TikTok’s Chinese ownership puts American users’ data at greater risk of falling into the hands of the Chinese government or being used for propaganda purposes.
Although TikTok claims to be independent from the government, parent company ByteDance has said it has no plans to sell the business.
The Chinese government has criticized the law as “bullying” by the United States against foreign companies and signaled that it opposes the sale.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a briefing with reporters Tuesday that the law “is not a ban. It’s a divestment.”
She referred further questions to the Justice Department, which declined to comment.
Under U.S. law, app stores will be prohibited from offering TikTok in the U.S. starting January 2025 unless parent company ByteDance finds a buyer. If negotiations progress, President Biden could extend that deadline by 90 days.
TikTok said in a Tuesday filing with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that the sales requirement is “commercially, technically and legally impossible, and will certainly not meet the 270-day deadline required by law.” It’s impossible.”
The measure unfairly singled out TikTok for creating a “two-tiered speech regime with one set of rules for one named platform and another set of rules for other platforms.” Stated.
The report noted that similar attempts at a ban, including one by former President Donald Trump, have run into trouble in U.S. courts.
The company added that the decision by many politicians, including Biden, to maintain accounts on the app undermines its claims that it is a national security threat.
The United States has in the past restricted foreign ownership of broadcast television and radio stations, which require government permission to access public airwaves.
TikTok said its business is unique and the government cannot dictate ownership of a “private speech forum.”
The company announced it has spent more than $2 billion to address U.S. concerns and put safeguards in place for U.S. data.
Jacob Helberg, who heads a committee tasked by Congress with monitoring the national security implications of U.S.-China trade, said the investment in TikTok was viewed in Washington as a “deceptive marketing exercise.” Stated.
He said the lawsuit was “dishonest” and “failed to address the national security issue at hand.”
But Ashley Gorsky, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said TikTok’s lawsuit is not a step in the right direction, despite claims to the contrary by the White House and growing concerns about free speech. He said that he had made a convincing case that there was a de facto ban.
“The government cannot impose this type of blanket ban unless it is the only way to prevent very serious and imminent harm to national security,” she said.
“There is no public evidence of harm that meets the very high standard imposed by the First Amendment.”
He said comments from lawmakers like U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, who recently linked widespread support for the bill in Congress to a desire to shape U.S. perception of the Israel-Gaza conflict, are a sign that the U.S. He said it would make it difficult to abide by the law.
But Rep. John Moolener, the current leader of the committee that helped write the law, said he was confident it would be supported.
“Congress and the Executive Branch have concluded, based on both public and classified information, that TikTok poses a significant risk to national security and the American people,” he said.
“This tells us that TikTok would rather spend the time, money, and effort to fight the issue in court than break with the Chinese Communist Party and resolve the issue.”
The law targeting TikTok is part of a number of actions the United States has taken against Chinese technology companies in recent years amid rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Starting in 2019, the United States significantly restricted exports of computer chips and other items to Huawei due to its relationship with the Chinese military.
This measure dealt a big blow to the company, but it seems to be recovering recently.
