TikTok is suing the US government and says that a potential ban of the social media platformwould violate the First Amendment.
The Chinese-owned company filed the lawsuit after President Joe Biden signed legislation in April meaning that TikTok must be sold, or face being banned in the US. The new law – Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act – gives the company 270 days to do so.
TikTok, and parent company ByteDance, says that the law is unconstitutional, according to the suit filed in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Tuesday.
TikTok’s lawsuit also argues that the law does not state any specific threats posed by TikTok in the US, and that Congress did not consider alternative measures before the legislation was signed, even though such measures were offered to other companies.
The plaintiffs also claim that the law violates the Fifth Amendment which relates to freedom of expression and due process.
The lawsuit claims that selling short-form video platform is not technologically, commercially or legally possible in the 270-day timeline.
“There is no question: the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere,” the suit states.
The company wants the court to issue an order barring the US attorney general, Merrick B Garland, from enforcing the law, and granting appropriate relief.
The January 19 deadline could be extended by the new litigation, meaning that it could take years for the app to be banned in the US, if at all.
ByteDance previously told Congress that it is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government. Still, the company is required to establish a Communist Party committee made up of employees who are party members.
Speaking to NBC News in March, Illinois Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, who introduced the bill, said the law “is not a ban”.
“The president wants authority to be able to balance the legitimate concerns of people on the platform who should continue to enjoy the platform with the legitimate security concerns that have to do with our adversaries,” he said.
The new law makes it unlawful for a data broker to sell, license, rent, trade, transfer, release or disclose sensitive data of US residents to the governments of North Korea, China, Russia, Iran or companies controlled by those countries.
