TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance filed a lawsuit in US federal court on Tuesday, seeking to block President Joe Biden’s bill that would require the 170 million Americans who use the short video app to be removed. declared prohibited.
The business argued in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that the law was unconstitutional on several grounds, including that it violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech.
The company argued in its lawsuit that “for the first time in history, Congress has enacted a single speech platform law that has a permanent national ban.”
The divorce is “legally, technologically, and commercially impossible,” according to the lawsuit … The law will force TikTok to close by January 19, 2025, 170, which relies on the platform for a unique form of communication denied that a million American citizens will be effectively closed.”
White prefers to end Chinese ownership on national security grounds, but has not banned TikTok outright. The Justice Department and the White House have remained silent on the case.
The lawsuit is the latest attempt by TikTok to prevent efforts to shut it down in the US, as companies like Snap and Meta try to use TikTok’s political projection to steal ad dollars from its competitors.
Weeks after the law was introduced, the law passed Congress with overwhelming support amid concerns among American lawmakers that China could use software to access or spy on American data. In the lawsuit, TikTok accused US lawmakers of “speculative” issues and refused to share user data from US citizens.
“Instead of continuing ByteDance’s deceitful tactics, it is time to start the dissolution process,” he said.
The law prohibits internet hosting companies from endorsing TikTok and prohibits app stores such as Apple and Alphabet’s Google from selling TikTok unless ByteDance withdraws from TikTok by January 19.
According to the lawsuit, TikTok’s success in the US is largely due to its referral engine, and the Chinese government has said it “will not allow it to be removed.” The company has argued that “prospective relief” is needed, and US Attorney General Merrick Garland has moved in DC to block the law’s implementation.
The lawsuit alleges that 58 percent of ByteDance is owned by international institutional investors including General Atlantic, BlackRock and Susquehanna International Group; 21% is owned by the founder of the Chinese company and 21% by employees, which includes about 7,000 Americans.
At the heart of the technology and internet dispute between the US and China is the four-year battle over TikTok. Apple announced in April that it had ordered China’s Meta Platform to remove WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China due to China’s national security concerns.
According to the lawsuit, TikTok promised to take further action in the draft 90-page National Security Agreement, which was developed through negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and spent $ 2 billion to protect its data. US users.
As part of the deal, TikTok agreed to a “shutdown option” that would allow the US government to take the app out of the country if it violates any rules, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit alleges that CFIUS halted substantive negotiations on the deal in August 2022 and that in March 2023, CFIUS will “require ByteDance to divest TikTok’s US business.” CFIUS, led by the US Treasury Department, is an interagency committee that reviews foreign investments in US companies and real estate that may raise issues with national companies.
The court thwarted then-President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat in the country in 2020. Since then, Trump, a Republican running against Democrat Joe Biden in the US election on November 5, has said that although he does not support the ban, safety issues should be considered.
