TikTok Files Lawsuit Against U.S. Government Over 'TikTok Ban Act'

Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok recently filed a lawsuit against the 'TikTok Ban Act,' which was enacted by U.S. President Joe Biden's signature.

On the 7th (local time), according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and others, TikTok argued in a complaint submitted to the Washington DC court that "the divestiture law asserts emergency and unconstitutional powers based on vague national security concerns, infringing on the freedom of expression of 170 million Americans guaranteed by the Constitution."

They stated, "The TikTok ban is clearly unconstitutional and constitutes an illegal seizure of private property," and protested, "Forced divestiture is not commercially, technically, or legally feasible."

The TikTok Ban Act, signed by President Biden last month, requires TikTok's parent company, the Chinese firm ByteDance, to divest TikTok's U.S. operations within one year at the latest, or else the service will be banned in the United States. It was implemented amid concerns that sensitive user information collected by TikTok, which is widely popular in the U.S., could be leaked to the Chinese government, posing a serious security threat.

As TikTok and the U.S. government enter a full-scale legal dispute, it is expected to take considerable time before the law is actually enforced. WSJ reported that "the U.S. government may disclose classified information to the court to prove that 'TikTok threatens security.'"

Alan Rosenthal, a constitutional law professor at the University of Minnesota, said, "(The outcome of the lawsuit) will depend on whether the government's national security claims are sufficiently strong."

TikTok is already engaged in multiple legal disputes related to state-level attempts to ban the app. In November last year, the state of Montana provisionally halted the state government's decision to ban TikTok usage within the state, and Montana is currently challenging this order.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.