TikTok, owned by a Chinese internet entrepreneur, Zhang Yiming, has sued the United States government over moves to ban the social media app.
The TikTok founder had filed the suit against the U.S. government in Washington’s appeal court on Tuesday.
TikTok’s decision was in reaction to U.S government law signed late April to ban it from the country except Mr Yiming, who is also the founder of ByteDance, was willing to sell the app in less than eight months.
However, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, didn’t agree with the U.S. terms and argued that the law which violated the First Amendment free speech protections also unfairly characterises its ownership of TikTok as a national security concern, even though there was no proof the company is a threat.
The U.S. government expressed worry that TikTok raised national security concerns because China could obtain American personal information via the app. However, after the bill was brought to the House floor by a unanimous committee vote last month, it was passed by the House with great support.
Furthermore, ByteDance claims that because the statute is so “obviously unconstitutional,” its sponsors are misrepresenting it as a means of controlling TikTok’s ownership.
In the lawsuit that was submitted, ByteDance stated, “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 1 billion people worldwide.”
Also, according to TikTok and ByteDance’s lawsuit, the divestiture “is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, and not legally.”
There is no doubt that the act will silence the 170 million Americans who use TikTok to communicate in ways that are unique to their platform by forcing the company to shut down by January 19, 2025.”
The law suit also stated that, the Chinese government “has made clear that it would not permit a divestment of the recommendation engine that is a key to the success of TikTok in the United States” and revealed that TikTok has spent $2 billion on measures to ensure protection of its users data.
The app has also gone ahead to agree to a “shutdown option” that would allow the U.S. government to shutdown the app if there is ever a breach in the terms of the 90-page draft National Security Agreement.
