(DailyDig.com) – China’s ByteDance, the owner of the popular video app TikTok, filed a lawsuit on May 7 to overturn President Biden’s signed law requiring its sale to a non-Chinese company. The law also stipulates that the US will ban the app if it remains unsold.
In the lawsuit, TikTok claims that the law is an encroachment on the company’s and their users’ freedom of speech in the US. It also states that the reasoning for the law was just speculative and not substantive enough to justify its necessity.
The lawmakers cited concern over national security as the reason for the measure. Legislators have been debating for years the claim that Chinese-based ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, could use it for propaganda, targeting vulnerable US citizens, primarily children, who are susceptible to influence. They also assert that the Chinese government could potentially access the users’ data.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for the White House, claimed during a press brief that the law was a divestment and not a ban. She then referred any other questions to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ made no comment regarding the new law.
The new law mandates the sale of TikTok to a non-Chinese company, failing which the app will face a sales ban in the US starting in 2025. The law allows Biden to extend the time limit if the sale is in progress at the time of the deadline.
TikTok’s response to the law states that they are independent of the Chinese government. The Chinese government has also complained that US law is arrogant in its attempt to bully a foreign company to sell their popular money-making product. They also warned that they would resist the sale, and ByteDance has already stated that they do not plan to sell TikTok.
The lawsuit claims that requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok is not legal, nor is it technologically or commercially possible. It also claims that the US shouldn’t dictate the ownership of speech.
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