As was promised and expected, TikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance have sued to challenge the new US law, arguing that the law is unconstitutional.
The New York Times reports, citing a petition the company provided, that the company alleges the new law violates users' First Amendment rights, by effectively removing an app that millions of Americans use to share their views and communicate freely.
“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide,” the company said in the 67-page petition it provided, which initiates the lawsuit.
“There is no question: The act will force a shutdown of TikTok by Jan. 19, 2025.”
The company also claims that a divestiture is “simply not possible” to complete within the law’s 270-day timeline.
As NYTimes reports, at the heart of the case will be lawmakers’ intent to defend the United States from what they and some security experts say is a national security threat because the Chinese government could lean on ByteDance to turn over sensitive TikTok user data or use the app to spread propaganda. Legal experts have said the mandate to sell or block the app could result in changes to TikTok’s content policies and shape what users are able to freely share on the platform, potentially violating their free speech rights.
TikTok argued in its suit that selling its U.S. operations was not “commercially, technologically, or legally feasible.”
A part of that argument hinges on how TikTok and its competitors are global in nature and content is accessible across country borders, with international videos as part of its appeal.
National security concerns about TikTok are “speculative” and fall short of what’s required to justify violating First Amendment rights, the company argued in its suit, adding that President Biden and other members of Congress’s use of the platform undermines claims that it’s a threat.
TikTok filed the suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit where the company asked the court to issue a declaratory judgment saying that the law violates the Constitution and to issue an order that would stop Attorney General Merrick B. Garland from enforcing it.
Several legal experts expect the case to land in front of the Supreme Court.
