TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, have filed a lawsuit urging a U.S. court to overturn a law that would ban the popular video app in the United States starting January 19. The companies argue that the U.S. government has not engaged in serious settlement talks since 2022, despite ByteDance’s efforts to address security concerns.
In April, President Joe Biden signed legislation giving ByteDance until January 19 to divest TikTok’s U.S. assets or face a ban. ByteDance maintains that such a divestiture is “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hear oral arguments from TikTok, ByteDance, and TikTok users on September 16. The outcome of this case could significantly impact how the U.S. government regulates foreign-owned apps.
ByteDance and TikTok argue that the law is a significant departure from the U.S. tradition of supporting an open Internet and sets a dangerous precedent. They claim that the law unfairly targets TikTok while ignoring other applications with substantial operations in China that also collect U.S. user data. Furthermore, they argue that the law violates Americans’ free speech rights by forcing the app to sell or be shut down.
Concerns among U.S. lawmakers about China potentially accessing American user data or using the app for espionage drove the measure, which passed overwhelmingly in Congress. However, lawyers representing TikTok users argue that the law’s allowance for TikTok to operate until January 19, even during a critical election period, suggests there are no imminent national security risks.
ByteDance has disclosed a redacted version of a 100-plus page draft national security agreement to protect U.S. TikTok user data, claiming it spent over $2 billion on these efforts. The agreement included a “kill switch” allowing the U.S. government to suspend TikTok if the company did not comply, and a demand to move TikTok’s source code out of China. Despite these measures, ByteDance says negotiations abruptly ended in August 2022.
TikTok’s lawyers argue that the Biden administration prefers to shut down the app rather than pursue a feasible solution to protect U.S. users through an enforceable agreement. The Justice Department, however, has defended the legislation, stating that it addresses national security concerns while respecting constitutional limitations.
The law also prohibits app stores like Apple and Google from offering TikTok and bars internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless it is divested by ByteDance. This legislative move follows previous attempts by former President Donald Trump to ban TikTok and WeChat, which were blocked by the courts.
As the legal battle continues, the future of TikTok in the United States remains uncertain, hinging on the court’s decision and the potential for further negotiations between ByteDance and the U.S. government.
