TikTok sued the federal government Tuesday in a bid to block a new law that will force its China-based parent company to sell the popular video-sharing app.
TikTok sued the federal government Tuesday in a bid to block a new law that will force its China-based parent company to sell the popular video-sharing app within the next year or face a total ban in the US.
Filed in a federal appeals court in Washington DC, the lawsuit seeks a court order to block implementation of the bipartisan legislation – which President Biden signed into law last month after it rapidly progressed through Congress.
TikTok argued the law, dubbed the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, is “unconstitutional” and that divesture within its 12-month timeline is “simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally.”
“There is no question: the Act 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 says.
TikTok asked the court to find that the law “violates the US Constitution” as well as to grant “any further relief that may be appropriate.”
A White House representative referred questions to the Justice Department, which declined to comment on the suit.
Representatives for the House Select Committee on China, which championed the bill, did not immediately return a request for comment.
The law requires parent company ByteDance to divest its stake in TikTok by Jan.
