ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, has sued the United States government. They want to stop a new law. This law would make ByteDance sell its TikTok operations in the U.S.
The company’s lawyers argued in Washington, D.C. that the law is not fair or constitutional.
President Joe Biden signed this law on April 24. It was part of a bigger package that also included help for Ukraine, Israel and Gaza.
ByteDance has until January 19 to sell TikTok. They might get three more months if they are close to a sale.
ByteDance says it can’t sell TikTok so quickly. They say it’s not possible for business, technology or legal reasons.
They also say the law is not fair to TikTok. It goes against the First Amendment which protects free speech in the U.S.
The lawsuit says this is the first time a law targets one specific social media platform. It would stop 170 million Americans from using TikTok which they say is unique.
If the law stays, TikTok could shut down by January 19, 2025.
Politicians in the U.S. worry about TikTok because ByteDance is a Chinese company. They fear China might get user data which could be a privacy risk.
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi supports the law. He says it’s needed to keep U.S. users safe.
ByteDance insists it does not and will not give user data to the Chinese government. They say they have spent $2 billion to protect U.S. user data and have agreed to a security plan with the U.S. government.
TikTok has faced trouble in the U.S. before. In 2020 President Donald Trump tried to ban it. But courts stopped that ban.
Montana tried to ban TikTok too. But a judge stopped Montana’s law from starting.
Experts think ByteDance might win this lawsuit. They say the government needs a very good reason to block TikTok and they don’t have one.
Meanwhile China has also taken actions against U.S. companies like Meta over security concerns.
