Summary
- TikTok refuses to back down despite US ban approval, files lawsuit for last chance to reverse ban.
- Owner ByteDance argues the ban is unconstitutional and is pushing back against divesting.
- TikTok faces a January 19 deadline and might leave the US market if all legal efforts fail, citing Chinese export laws.
Despite the US House, Senate, and President Biden approving TikTok’s ban bill, the app doesn’t want to back down. After TikTok’s CEO said it would fight back to reverse the ban, The Verge now reports that the company behind the app has filed a lawsuit against the US government, giving lawmakers a taste of their own medicine.
Everything you need to know about the US TikTok ban
Inside the US’s years-long effort to ban everybody’s favorite short-form video platform
TikTok’s court filing (PDF warning) has escalated the fight to reverse the ban, with the US government now having to defend its reasoning for banning the video-sharing app in the country. The lawsuit reads that Congress has “taken the unprecedented step of expressly singling out and banning TikTok,” and argues that the move has been “unconstitutional.”
Suing the US government is TikTok’s last hope to reverse its ban
TikTok also states that divesting from the parent company ByteDance is impossible, forcing the app to shut down its operations in the United States by January 19. TikTok added that the move could potentially silence 170 million Americans who rely on the app for communication.
The lawsuit added, “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.”
TikTok’s deadline expires on January 19. The app has to either divest from ByteDance or leave the US market. Of course, in case all legal efforts fail, ByteDance allegedly prefers to pull TikTok from the US rather than sell it to an American buyer. It made this abundantly clear in its filing:
There is no question: the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
The sale of TikTok faces a significant hurdle due to the algorithms and “millions of lines” of software code that are integral to the ByteDance business. As a Chinese app, TikTok is subject to China’s Export Control Law, which prohibits the sale of algorithms and source codes to a foreign entity without CCP approval.
TikTok argues that ditching the algorithms from the US version turns the app into an “island” that offers a “detached experience” to American users. The platform also demands US lawmakers provide evidence that the CCP misuses the app.
Insisting on US constitutional rights such as freedom of speech and the First Amendment is TikTok’s last resort to reverse the ban. A judge in Montana previously blocked a local bill to block the social media app, citing free speech concerns. TikTok is now seeking a judge’s order to prevent the attorney general from enforcing the ban. The upcoming months will be crucial to TikTok, determining the app’s fate in the United States.
