TikTok owner ByteDance files lawsuit against US law forcing app’s sale or ban of app

May 8, 2024

Current Affair | Technology

TikTok, along with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, took legal action against U.S federal court on Tuesday trying to block a law that President Joe Biden approved that would force the company to sell off the short video app used by 170 million Americans or ban it.

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The companies filed their lawsuit in Washington, D.C. It’s called the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. disputing that the law breaches the U.S. Constitution in different ways Including not following the rules about free speech in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The law approved by President Joe Biden on April 24 tells ByteDance they have until January 19 to sell TikTok or it will be banned.

For the first time in history, Congress has made a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban,” the companies said in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit mentioned the divestiture, “It just can’t happen: not technologically, not legally, not commercially. … There is no question: the law will force a stop TikTok by January 19, 2025, this will stop 170 million Americans who use TikTok to talk in special ways that they can’t do anywhere else.

The White House has stated that it wants to prevent TikTok from Chinese-based ownership ended because of national security concerns but not a ban on TikTok. The White House and Justice Department didn’t comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit is the newest move by TikTok to stay ahead of attempts to shut it down in the United States as companies such as Snap and Meta look to exploit TikTok’s political confusion to steal advertising money from their competitor.

Because American lawmakers are concerned, that China could access data on Americans or spy on them with the app, this rule was passed overwhelmingly in Congress just weeks after being introduced. TikTok has denied that it never shared or would share American user data, and it’s blaming American lawmakers for having worries that might not be true.

Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a top Democrat, said the law is needed to protect national security from ByteDance’s ownership of apps like TikTok.He wants ByteDance to start selling TikTok instead of using tricks. The law says Apple and Google can’t offer TikTok, and internet services can’t support it unless ByteDance sells TikTok by Jan. 19.

According to the lawsuit, about 58% of ByteDance is owned by big global investors like BlackRock, Susquehanna International Group, and General Atlantic. The company’s Chinese founder owns 21%, and 21% is owned by employees, including around 7,000 Americans.

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