Over 50 US Lawmakers, 21 States Support DOJ in TikTok Lawsuit

A group of 21 states and over 50 U.S. lawmakers have thrown their support behind the Justice Department’s mandate that ByteDance, the China-based owner of TikTok, must sell its U.S. assets by January 19 or face a ban. This development came to light through a court filing led by the state attorneys general of Montana and Virginia.

“TikTok poses a threat to national security and consumer privacy,” emphasized the court filing. It stressed that without severing ties with the Chinese Communist Party, TikTok’s operation in the United States exposes Americans to data exploitation risks.

A separate filing by more than 50 lawmakers, spearheaded by U.S. Representative John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican, and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the House select China committee, reiterates this concern. They argue the law “provides a clear, achievable path for affected companies to resolve the pressing and non-hypothetical national security threats posed by their current ownership structures.”

TikTok, along with its parent company ByteDance and a group of TikTok creators, have filed lawsuits to block the law that might lead to banning the app, which currently boasts 170 million American users.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is set to hold oral arguments on the legal challenge on September 16. This places TikTok’s fate in the spotlight during the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election.

The congressional filing received signatures from notable figures such as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, and Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee. “Congress acted not to punish ByteDance but to protect national security,” the lawmakers contended.

In response, TikTok stated, “These filings ignore the fact that Congress passed the TikTok ban without any supporting records for the government’s claims. Furthermore, these filings do nothing to change the fact that the Constitution is on our side, as the TikTok ban would violate the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans who use TikTok.”

Propelled by concerns among U.S. lawmakers that China could access data on Americans or spy using the app, the measure was passed with overwhelming support in the U.S. Congress in April, just weeks after its introduction.

The Justice Department, last week, urged a U.S. appeals court to dismiss the legal challenges against the law, asserting that “the serious national-security threat posed by TikTok is real.”

Source: Reuters