TikTok is suing US government over potential ban

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TikTok, a short-form video social media platform, is suing the US government claiming that a potential ban of the site would violate the First Amendment.

The China-based company specifically names the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act as an unconstitutional law. The legislation was signed by President Joe Biden on April 24.

The lawsuit, which is attempting to stop the act from taking effect in 2025, was filed in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Tuesday. Merrick B Garland, the US attorney general, is named as the only defendant in the suit.

The law would make 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.

ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, has told the US 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.

“Banning TikTok is so obviously unconstitutional, in fact, that even the act’s sponsors recognized that reality, and therefore have tried mightily to depict the law not as a ban at all, but merely a regulation of TikTok’s ownership,” the lawsuit states.

Speaking to NBC News in March, Illinois Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, who introduced the bill, said the law “is not a ban”. He added: “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.”

Under the new law, the company would have the option to divest its TikTok businesses or be shut down. However, the lawsuit claims that selling the platform is not technologically, commercially or legally possible with a 270-day timeline given by the legislative body.

“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.

That deadline could be extended amid ongoing litigation, meaning that it could take years for the app to be banned in the US.

The 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 law additionally violates the First and Fifth Amendments because it violates freedom of expression and due process protections, the suit states.

The petitioners are requesting that the court issue judgement stating that the act violates the US Constitution, issue an order barring the attorney general from enforcing the law and grant further relief that may be appropriate.