TikTok Sues U.S. Government Over App Ban Threat

TikTok is suing the US government in an effort to thwart a law that will outlaw TikTok if its parent company, ByteDance, does not sell it within a year

Tuesday’s lawsuit filing alleges that the bill violates the United States Constitution. The law, according to TikTok, violates the commitment of the United States Constitution to “both free speech and individual liberty.” 

“Congress, for the first time in history, has passed a law that permanently and nationwide bans a single named speech platform and prohibits every American from participating in a unique online community with over one billion users worldwide,” the lawsuit states.

Two weeks after President Biden signed the measure, which included aid for Israel and Ukraine, the lawsuit was filed. ByteDance is given until January 19 to sell the application or risk a ban under the measure, which brings the likelihood of a TikTok ban closer to fruition than ever before. 

According to TikTok, the U.S. government needs to provide substantiating evidence for its assertions that the application presents national security threats. 

The lawsuit states, “The statements made by congressional committees and individual members of Congress during the hurried, behind-the-scenes legislative process that preceded the enactment of the Act confirm that there is merely speculation and not ‘evidence,’ as the First Amendment mandates.” 

Further, TikTok asserts that the legislation is essentially an attempt to prohibit the application, arguing that it is unfeasible to generate revenue for the platform within the allotted 270-day period. 

The lawsuit states, “Petitioners have repeatedly informed the U.S. government of this, and sponsors of the Act were aware that divestment is impossible.”

“Without a doubt, the Act will compel TikTok to cease operations by January 19, 2025, thereby silencing the 170 million Americans who utilize the platform to engage in unique forms of communication that are impossible elsewhere.”

The Chinese government would likely prohibit the sale of the application, even if ByteDance intended to do so because it would require approval to transmit TikTok’s algorithms.

TikTok further asserts that transferring “millions of lines of software code” to a new owner would render a transaction technologically unfeasible.  

The lawsuit resulted from four years of U.S. government allegations that TikTok’s connections to China exposed sensitive American information to the Chinese government and threatened national security.

In response to these allegations, TikTok has stated that it has invested $2 billion to safeguard the information of U.S. users. 

Legislators have additionally contended that TikTok can influence public sentiment through its control over the content presented to users in its ‘For You’ feed. 

When the Trump administration considered prohibiting the application, TikTok contemplated divesting its U.S. operations to an American company.

Among the prospective contenders were Oracle, Microsoft, and Walmart; however, these agreements still needed to materialize. Reports suggest that ByteDance would rather not sell TikTok but rather close it down this time.