Joe Biden signed a bill that requires ByteDance to sell TikTok to an approved buyer by January 19, 2025, or face a ban from the US
TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have filed a lawsuit to block a recently signed law by Joe Biden. The law, signed just weeks ago, would either force the sale of the short video app or ban it from the US.
The companies filed the lawsuit on Tuesday against the US government in the court of appeals for the District of Columbia. They argue that the law is unconstitutional and violates free speech protections.
The law, signed by the president on April 24 as part of a broader foreign aid package, gives China’s ByteDance until January 19, 2025, to sell TikTok to an approved buyer. If ByteDance fails to do so, the US would prohibit app stores from offering TikTok and bar internet hosting services from supporting TikTok.
The companies argue in the lawsuit that complying with the divestiture required by the bill “is simply not commercially, legally, or technically possible.
“There is no question: the Act (law) will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit confirmed previous reports that ByteDance would not sell TikTok without the powerful recommendation algorithm that has fueled the platform’s success. The Chinese government “has made clear that it would not permit a divestment of the recommendation engine that is a key to the success of TikTok in the United States,” the lawsuit said.
The possibility of a TikTok ban has been increasing since Donald Trump’s initial, unsuccessful attempt to block it in 2020. Critics of TikTok are concerned that its China-based parent company could gather sensitive user data and censor content contrary to the Chinese government’s wishes—allegations TikTok refutes.
In the midst of the political controversy, TikTok reportedly invested over $2 billion in implementing measures to safeguard the data of its US users. The lawsuit also underscored further commitments the company made in a 90-page draft National Security Agreement, which was crafted through negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS is an interagency committee chaired by the US Treasury Department that evaluates foreign investments in American businesses that raise national security issues.
CFIUS had been negotiating with TikTok to find solutions, with the agreement including TikTok accepting a “shut-down option.” This option would grant the US government the power to suspend TikTok in the US if it violated certain obligations, as per the lawsuit.
However, in August 2022, as stated in the lawsuit, CFIUS ceased engaging in meaningful discussions regarding the agreement. By March 2023, CFIUS “insisted that ByteDance would be required to divest the US TikTok business.”
Many experts have raised doubts about whether any potential buyer has the financial capacity to acquire TikTok, and whether both the Chinese and US government agencies would approve such a sale. The lawsuit mentioned that transferring the TikTok source code to the US would be a lengthy process, as it would take years for a new set of engineers to become sufficiently familiar with it.
Under current law, Biden could extend the January 19 divestiture deadline by three months if he determines that ByteDance is making progress.
