listen to this articleTikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance are suing the United States over a law that would ban the popular video-sharing app unless it is sold to another company.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday could mark the beginning of a long legal battle over TikTok's future in the United States.
The popular social video company said it would be banned from the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Control Petitions Act because the law signed by President Joe Biden as part of a $95 billion foreign aid package is “clearly unconstitutional.” They argued that the sponsors were trying to glorify the law. Not as a ban, but as a regulation of TikTok's ownership.
“Congress has endorsed TikTok, a vibrant online forum for protected speech and expression that 170 million Americans use to create, share, and watch videos on the Internet. ByteDance has taken the unprecedented step of explicitly identifying and prohibiting these activities,” ByteDance said in its complaint. “For the first time in history, Congress has made a single designated speech platform subject to a permanent, nationwide ban, barring all Americans from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion participants worldwide. enacted a law to do so.
The law requires TikTok's parent company ByteDance to sell the platform within nine months. If a sale is already in progress, the company will have an additional three months to complete the transaction. ByteDance said it has “no plans to sell TikTok.” But even if it wanted to sell, the company would have to get the blessing of the Chinese government, which has opposed forced sales of its platform in the past and has voiced its opposition again.
TikTok and ByteDance argued in the lawsuit that they weren't really given a choice.
“The 'qualified sale' required by the Act to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States is commercially, technically, and legally impossible,” they said.
Under the law, TikTok would be forced to shut down by January 19, 2025, according to the complaint.
Both parties argued that it should be protected by the First Amendment's freedom of expression guarantee. They are seeking a declaratory judgment that the law violates the U.S. Constitution. An order directing Attorney General Merrick Garland to enforce the Act and provide such further relief as the court deems appropriate.
The dispute over TikTok comes as U.S.-China relations are moving toward intense strategic rivalry, particularly in areas such as advanced technology and data security that are essential to each country's economic strength and national security. .
Lawmakers, administration and law enforcement officials from both parties have warned that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over U.S. user data or manipulate the algorithms that populate users' feeds to sway public opinion. expressed concern that there is a possibility of Some have pointed to a Rutgers University study that says TikTok's content is amplified or undervalued based on how it aligns with the interests of the Chinese government, which the company disputes.
Opponents of the law argue that Chinese authorities and other nefarious groups can easily obtain information about Americans in other ways, such as through commercial data brokers who rent or sell personal information. There is. They point out that the U.S. government has not provided any public evidence that TikTok is sharing U.S. user information with Chinese authorities or tinkering with its algorithms to benefit China. They also say any attempt to ban the app could violate free speech rights in the United States.
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, is hopeful that the challenge to TikTok's ban will be successful.
“The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution means that the government cannot restrict Americans' access to ideas, information, or media from abroad without a very good reason. does not exist,” Jafar said in a printed statement.
Hallelujah Hadero is an AP Business Writer.
AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman contributed to this article from New York.
