TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have taken a bold step to challenge the United States government by filing a lawsuit against a recent law that threatens to ban the popular app nationwide.
Last month, President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act into law after it was passed by both chambers of Congress. This legislation mandates that ByteDance must sell TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer within 270 days or face a nationwide ban.
In their petition to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, TikTok emphasized that the law is not only unprecedented—singling out a single speech platform—but also unconstitutional. \"Congress has taken the unprecedented step of expressly singling out and banning TikTok: a vibrant online forum for protected speech and expression used by 170 million Americans to create, share, and view videos over the Internet,\" TikTok stated.
The company further argued that the requirement for a \"qualified divestiture\" is unfeasible, noting that the mandated sale is not possible commercially, technologically, or legally. \"Banning TikTok is so obviously unconstitutional, in fact, that even the Act's sponsors recognized that reality,\" TikTok added.
The law cites national security concerns related to TikTok's ownership, but critics argue that the motivations behind the ban may also involve issues of competition and market dominance. The potential ban has sparked widespread criticism, raising alarms about the protection of constitutional rights and the principles of fair competition.
As TikTok boasts over 170 million American users and a global reach of more than a billion, the outcome of this legal battle could have significant social and economic impacts. The future of TikTok in the United States remains uncertain as the case unfolds, highlighting the ongoing tensions between national security concerns and the digital freedoms valued by millions around the world.
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TikTok, ByteDance sue U.S. government to block potential ban
cgtn.com
