On May 7th, TikTok, the popular Chinese video-sharing platform, officially filed a lawsuit against a U.S. law mandating the company’s divestiture.
In their legal filing in Washington D.C., TikTok claimed that the divestiture law, rooted in ambiguous national security concerns, exercises an unconstitutional and extraordinary power that violates the free speech rights of 170 million Americans as protected by the Constitution.
“The TikTok ban is a clear violation of the Constitution,” the company continued, “The forced sale is not commercially, technically, or legally feasible.” Last month, President Joe Biden signed a bill that would ban TikTok’s services in the U.S. if ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company in China, does not sell its U.S. operations within 270 days (which the President can extend for 90 days).
U.S. politicians have continually expressed concerns that the sensitive user data collected by TikTok can pose a serious security threat if it falls into the hands of the Chinese government.
Following President Biden’s signing of the bill, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew stated in a video message, “We are not going anywhere,” revealing the company’s intention to fight the law in court.
With TikTok and the U.S. government now officially engaged in legal disputes, it is expected to take a considerable amount of time before the law is implemented.
TikTok is currently dealing with numerous legal disputes related to attempts to ban the app at the state level.
In November last year, a preliminary injunction was granted in Montana to halt the state government’s decision to ban TikTok. Montana is currently contesting this order.
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