TikTok announced Tuesday that it has sued the Biden administration to block a new law that would force its China-based parent company ByteDance to sell within a year. Otherwise, the app will face a total ban in the US.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., seeks a court order blocking the bipartisan bill from taking effect. The bipartisan bill passed rapidly through Congress and was signed into law by President Biden just last month.
TikTok said the law, called the Protecting Americans from Regulatory Applications of Foreign Enemies Act, is “unconstitutional” and that a sale within the 12-month deadline would be “commercially and technically legal.” “It is impossible,” he argues.
“There is no question: this law will force the shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, and will protect the 170 million people who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated in other countries. Americans will be silenced,” the complaint says.
TikTok asked the court to find the law “in violation of the United States Constitution” and to grant “any further relief it deems appropriate.”
The newspaper has reached out to the White House and the House Select Committee on China for comment.
Critics argue that TikTok essentially serves as a weapon for the Chinese Communist Party, facilitating everything from election interference to terrorist-supporting propaganda to mental health crises among teens.
Calls for a U.S. ban reignited last year after data showed that pro-Palestinian content appeared to have a much wider reach on TikTok than pro-Israel content.
Lawmakers were also alarmed by the emergence of a TikTok trend in which users share videos endorsing 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden’s infamous “Letter to America.” The video was filled with terrorist rhetoric and anti-Semitism.
TikTok has denied wrongdoing and touted efforts to create a secure environment, including a partnership with tech giant Oracle, which stores user data on U.S.-based servers.
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