TikTok and its parent company ByteDance faced a major lawsuit on Monday in a legal battle that seeks to block a law that could ban the app used by 170 million Americans as soon as Jan. 19.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hold oral arguments on the legal challenge, putting an end to China-owned TikTok in the middle of the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election.
Both Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are busy on TikTok courting minority voters.
TikTok and ByteDance say the law is unconstitutional and violates Americans’ free speech rights, saying it’s “a departure from the country’s tradition of championing an open internet.”
Driven by concerns among US lawmakers that China could access Americans’ personal data or spy on the app, the measure was overwhelmingly passed in the US Congress in April just weeks after it was introduced.
ByteDance said the divestiture was “not technically, commercially, or legally feasible” and without a court ruling it would lead to an unprecedented ban on Jan. 19. District Judges Srinivasan, Neomi Rao and Douglas Ginsburg will consider the legal challenges brought by TikTok. and users.
TikTok and the Justice Department appealed the decision on Dec. 6, which would allow the US Supreme Court to decide before any ban goes into effect.
President Joe Biden signed the law in April, giving ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell TikTok or face a ban, but he can extend the deadline by three months if he confirms that ByteDance is moving forward with the sale.
The White House and other lawmakers say the move is a challenge to the app’s China-based ownership, not a move to end TikTok.
The White House says it wants to see China-based ownership eliminated on national security grounds, but not the TikTok ban.
—David Shepardson, Reuters
Source link
