TikTok and Justice Department Clash in Court Over Possible US Ban

September 18 :
Attorneys for TikTok and parent firm ByteDance will face off against the Justice Department in a Washington courtroom. The case centers around a bill that may ban the app, which is used by 170 million Americans, as early as January 19th. Oral arguments will be held before a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia over a legal challenge that TikTok and its Chinese parent firm ByteDance filed. The challengers are seeking an injunction to prevent the statute from being implemented.

ByteDance and TikTok claim the rule is a violation of Americans' free expression rights and an infringement on the constitution, describing it as "a radical departure from this country's tradition of championing an open Internet." Douglas Ginsburg, Neomi Rao, and Sri Srinivasan are the circuit judges who will hear the cases filed by TikTok and its users challenging the statute that gives ByteDance until January 19 to sell or divest TikTok's assets in the United States or risk being banned.

Legislators in the United States were so concerned that China could use the app to acquire personal information or spy on their citizens that they swiftly passed a bill outright in April, a few of weeks after its introduction. If Biden verifies that ByteDance is significantly moving toward a sale, he has the power to grant a three-month extension to the January 19 deadline.

During the last weeks of the presidential campaign, the hearing may decide TikTok's fate. Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential contender Donald Trump both use TikTok to reach out to younger voters.

Because of its access to the massive personal data of Americans, the Justice Department claims that TikTok, which is owned by China, poses a severe national security concern. They allege that China can surreptitiously control the material that Americans consume through TikTok.

"The serious national-security threat posed by TikTok is real," the government declared. Because divestiture is "not possible technologically, commercially, or legally" according to ByteDance, the company fears an unprecedented prohibition in the absence of a court decision.

In order to give the U.S. Supreme Court time to review an appeal before any ban goes into force, TikTok and the Justice Department have requested a decision by December 6.

Although the White House supports ending Chinese ownership for national security reasons, it does not support banning TikTok. After failing in his 2020 effort to ban TikTok, Trump has stated that he would not permit such a ban if elected