On Monday, September 16th, the United States Federal Appeals Court will review the nationwide TikTok ban pushed by bipartisan lawmakers. TikTok is trying to persuade the court that the ban, which requires its Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell its US business, violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
In the morning of Monday, three judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hear arguments from TikTok, ByteDance, and some content creators, and decide whether to halt the ban set to take effect on January 19th.
The legislation swiftly passed through Congress with bipartisan support, and President Biden signed it into law in April this year, mandating ByteDance to divest within 270 days.
ByteDance argues that divestment is practically impossible, meaning the law effectively amounts to a nationwide ban on the video-sharing platform in the US.
In court documents, ByteDance wrote, “The government is asking the court to sanction the most far-reaching speech restriction in US history — a law specifically targeting and shutting down a speech platform used by 170 million Americans.”
However, the majority of bipartisan lawmakers are concerned that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could use the application to collect Americans’ information and spread misinformation.
Previously, TikTok had several significant incidents of privacy breaches, deepening concerns about its security. In June 2022, TikTok admitted that employees at its Chinese headquarters had accessed US user data.
Subsequently, it was revealed that TikTok employees in both the US and China inappropriately tracked user data of Western media journalists. In recent years, former employees who resigned expressed concerns that the CCP could potentially use TikTok as a “Trojan horse” to monitor Americans by sifting through the vast amounts of data it collects.
Earlier this year, FBI Director Christopher Wray suggested during a speech at the University of Michigan that the CCP could theoretically manipulate TikTok’s algorithms for “traditional espionage activities.”
Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr also stated that due to the “unique threat” posed by TikTok, he supports banning the app.
Now, the battle over the TikTok ban will be decided by the en banc panel of the US Court of Appeals. By random selection, the case will be heard by Judges Sri Srinivasan, appointed by former President Obama, Neomi Rao, appointed by former President Trump, and Douglas Ginsburg, appointed by former President Reagan.
Initially, the judges will hear arguments from TikTok’s lawyers, then the creators’ lawyers, and the defense from the US Department of Justice.
Both sides have requested a decision by December 6th to allow time for emergency appeals for the losing party.
Twenty-one incumbent Republican state attorneys general also support the ban, labeling TikTok as a “unique threat to American consumers.”
“TikTok is asking this court to declare that representatives of people at all levels of government are powerless to stop foreign hostile forces from spying on Americans. TikTok and the CCP cannot hide behind the First Amendment,” these state attorneys general stated.