TikTok will take its case against the threatened US ban to a federal court on Monday, where it will argue that a law targeting the video platform is “unconstitutional.”
In April, Joe Biden formally introduced legislation giving TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, until January 19 to sell its stake in the platform to an approved buyer, due to concerns that the app poses a national security threat.
TikTok will begin arguing its case before a three-judge panel at an appeals court in Washington on Monday.
In it Lawsuit challenging threatened banTikTok and ByteDance argue that the law is unconstitutional and unenforceable. They claim that the Protecting Americans from Controlled Apps from Foreign Adversaries Act violates the First Amendment, which protects free speech, and that the government cannot dictate ownership of an online platform.
“The ‘qualified divestiture’ required by law to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States is simply not possible — commercially, technologically, and legally,” the lawsuit states.
He adds that there is “no doubt” that the law will lead to the closure of TikTok and silence the “170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated anywhere else.”
Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and billionaire Frank McCourt have both expressed interest in buying TikTok, though the Chinese government has signaled it will oppose a sale because of restrictions on the sale of sensitive technologies.
Free speech activists, including PEN America, have filed amicus briefs (a means of expressing support for one of the parties in a case) in support of TikTok and ByteDance’s lawsuit.
Opponents of the law point out that a ban would also cause disruption in the world of marketing, retail and in the lives of many different content creators, some of whom are also suing the US government. TikTok is covering the legal costs of that lawsuit.
In court documents filed over the summer, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) laid out its main concerns, which center on data and potential user manipulation. It said TikTok collected vast amounts of user data, including sensitive information about viewing habits, that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government. It also claimed that TikTok’s algorithm that selects what users see on the app could be manipulated by Chinese authorities.
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“By directing ByteDance or TikTok to covertly manipulate that algorithm, China could, for example, further its existing malign influence operations and amplify its efforts to undermine trust in our democracy and exacerbate societal divisions,” the Justice Department said.
TikTok has said it does not share user data with the Chinese government and that concerns raised by the US government have never been substantiated.
Legal experts expect the case to reach the Supreme Court and for the losing party in the federal lawsuit to appeal the ruling.
Associated Press contributed to this report.