TikTok Appeals US Claims on China Ties in Court

TikTok urged a federal appeals court on Thursday to overturn a law that mandates China-based ByteDance to sell the app’s U.S. assets or face a ban. The social media giant emphasized that the U.S. Department of Justice has inaccurately portrayed its connections to China.

TikTok is battling the Justice Department’s claims that it poses a national security risk. The department argues that the app allows the Chinese government to access the personal data of Americans and manipulate the content they see. TikTok, however, contested this, asserting that it’s undisputed that user data and content recommendation algorithms are stored in the U.S. on Oracle-operated cloud servers. Moreover, decisions on content moderation that impact U.S. users are made within the country.

Enacted by President Joe Biden on April 24, the legislation sets a deadline of January 19 for ByteDance to sell TikTok; otherwise, a ban will be enforced. The White House maintains that its goal is to remove Chinese-based ownership on national security grounds rather than to prohibit TikTok.

Set for September 16, the appeals court will hear oral arguments on this legal challenge. This timetable places TikTok’s fate in the crucial final weeks leading up to the November 5 presidential election.

The TikTok debate has even reached presidential candidates. Republican contender Donald Trump has joined TikTok, stating in June that he would never endorse a ban on the app. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, also joined TikTok in July, incorporating social media into her campaign efforts.

TikTok also contended that the law infringes its free-speech rights, resisting the Justice Department’s assertion that the app’s content curation actions are “the speech of a foreigner” and thus not protected by the U.S. Constitution. TikTok argued, “By the government’s logic, a U.S. newspaper that republishes the content of a foreign publication – Reuters, for example – would lack constitutional protection.”

The legislation in question has broad implications. It prohibits app stores such as Apple’s and Alphabet’s Google from offering TikTok and prevents internet hosting services from supporting the app unless ByteDance divests it. Legislative concerns are primarily driven by fears that China could misuse the app to gather data on Americans or conduct espionage.

Lawmakers’ concerns led to the swift passage of this measure through Congress, just weeks after it was introduced.

Source: Reuters