On Monday, September 16th, the District of Columbia Appeals Court began hearing the lawsuit brought by TikTok and its Chinese parent company against the United States government. This lawsuit could potentially mean the end of the TikTok platform in the United States, as the TikTok ban based on national security concerns is set to take effect in January.
The U.S. Congress passed a law in April called the “Protecting Americans from Foreign App Control Act,” which requires ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to sell the application or face a ban in the United States.
President Biden subsequently signed the law, requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok by January 19, 2025. If the president determines that progress on the sale is not made, he can also exercise a 90-day extension.
TikTok filed a lawsuit with the Appeals Court in May, arguing that the law violates the constitution in many ways, including infringing upon the First Amendment’s protection of free speech. The court was told that the deadline for the divestment is “not possible commercially, technically, or legally.”
A panel of three judges at the Appeals Court began hearing the case on Monday. The three judges are Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao, and Douglas Ginsburg.
Andrew Pincus, the external lawyer for TikTok, told the judges, “This lawsuit before the court is unprecedented, and the impact will be staggering.”
“This is the first time in history that Congress has explicitly prohibited the speech of specific groups of people and the speech of 170 million Americans,” he added.
TikTok is seeking a court order to stop the law.
Throughout the legislative process in Congress, TikTok has been engaging in lobbying efforts and mobilizing public protests, attempting to pressure the U.S. government and Congress. The law prohibits app stores like Apple and Google’s Alphabet from offering TikTok and internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance removes the app by the deadline.
The Department of Justice has stated that TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, poses a serious threat to U.S. national security. The DOJ alleges that TikTok collects a significant amount of personal data from Americans and can secretly manipulate information consumed by Americans through the platform.
In court documents filed in July, the DOJ emphasized two main concerns of the U.S. government. Firstly, TikTok collects a large amount of user data, including sensitive information about habits, which could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Secondly, the U.S. contends that TikTok’s proprietary algorithm supporting users is easily manipulable by the Chinese authorities, allowing Beijing to shape content on the platform in subtle ways.
TikTok has repeatedly stated that it will not share American user data with the Chinese government and that the concerns raised by the U.S. government have not been substantiated. In their court filings, TikTok and its parent company’s lawyers argue that lawmakers are attempting to punish the platform based on their perceived propaganda on TikTok. They claim that divestment is not feasible, and if the court does not intervene to stop the law, the app will have to shut down by January 19, 2025.
In a legal brief submitted in June, TikTok stated, “Even if divestment were feasible, TikTok in the U.S. would become a mere shell, losing its innovative and expressive technology tailored to each user.”
In another court document submitted to the judge, the DOJ stated that the U.S. “does not need to wait for foreign adversaries to take specific harmful actions before responding to such threats.”
However, TikTok and its parent company argue that the U.S. government could have taken a more targeted approach to address its concerns.
TikTok and the DOJ have requested the Appeals Court to make a ruling by December 6, which may allow the U.S. Supreme Court to consider any appeals before the ban takes effect.
The White House has expressed a desire for the Chinese company to terminate its ownership of TikTok for national security reasons but will not ban TikTok.
Before the ban on TikTok was passed by Congress, more than 30 states had already passed regulations prohibiting the use of TikTok.
Internationally, Canada, the UK, and the European Commission have banned government devices from using TikTok. Since 2020, the app has been completely banned nationwide in India.
This case will unfold in the final weeks of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Both Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump and his Democratic rival, Vice President Harris, are active on TikTok, trying to attract young voters.