ByteDance, the owner of the social media platform TikTok, has filed a lawsuit against the US government to block a law that would force it to divest itself of its US assets.
On Tuesday, lawyers for ByteDance filed the complaint with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, arguing the law was “patently unconstitutional.”
President Joe Biden signed the law less than two weeks ago, on April 24, as part of a package that included foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel and humanitarian aid to Gaza.
By law, ByteDance has nine months to sell its U.S.-based operations. The deadline is January 19th. A further three-month extension is possible if a sale is underway.
However, ByteDance argues in its lawsuit that a sale within the specified time frame will not be possible – “neither commercially, nor technologically, nor legally”.
She also argues that she is unfairly targeted by a law that violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects free speech.
“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that would subject a single, designated speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban and ban every American from participating in a unique online community of more than one billion people worldwide,” it said the lawsuit reads.
Although ByteDance claimed it had no plans to sell TikTok, its popular video-sharing app, it said it wasn’t even legally feasible.
Millions of lines of code would have to change hands, the lawsuit says, and any potential owners would have to access ByteDance’s algorithms to keep it operating – something that would also be prohibited by law.
“There is no question: The law will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways not possible anywhere else,” it said in the lawsuit.
TikTok has been the subject of bipartisan criticism in the US, with politicians concerned about its impact on national security.
ByteDance is a Chinese technology company and its critics fear that the Chinese government could request the information it collects from users, raising privacy concerns.
US congressmen such as Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said the April law was therefore necessary to protect US users.
“This is the only way to address the national security threat posed by ByteDance’s ownership of apps like TikTok,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. “Instead of continuing its deceptive tactics, it is time for ByteDance to begin the divestiture process.”
ByteDance has long denied providing any information about U.S. users to the Chinese government and has publicly pledged not to do so, brushing aside concerns as “speculative.”
The lawsuit also notes that the company spent $2 billion protecting U.S. user data and made commitments under a 90-page draft “national security agreement” with the U.S. government.
TikTok has been in the U.S. government’s crosshairs for nearly four years as tensions between Washington and Beijing continue.
In 2020, for example, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning the video platform, citing national security concerns.
But federal judges blocked the ban, saying officials “failed to consider an obvious and reasonable alternative before banning TikTok.”
States have also tried to block the app, most notably Montana. In April 2023, Governor Greg Gianforte signed the first bill of its kind, SB 419, which would fine TikTok for operating within state borders as well as any app stores that carry it.
But it was unclear how Montana planned to enforce the law, which was quickly challenged in court.
Montana’s SB 419 was supposed to take effect on January 1, but a federal judge ultimately blocked it, handing ByteDance another victory. The state’s attorney general has promised an appeal.
Many free speech advocates believe a similar fate awaits federal legislation in April forcing ByteDance to divest from its U.S. operations.
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, told the Associated Press he expects ByteDance to prevail in the lawsuit on Tuesday.
“The First Amendment means that the government cannot restrict Americans’ access to ideas, information or media from abroad without a very good reason — and there is no such reason here,” Jaffer said in a statement.
China, for its part, has taken similar measures against US-based companies such as Meta, whose WhatsApp and Threads platforms were recently set to be removed from China-based app stores on national security grounds.