Array
Back in April, congress passed (and president Biden signed) a law which gave the Chinese-owned social media site TikTok until January 2025 to either sell its US business or be banned. In May, TikTok sued in an attempt to get a court to overturn the new law on the grounds that it violated the First Amendment rights of Americans.
TikTok said the law violated the First Amendment by effectively removing an app that millions of Americans use to share their views and communicate freely. It also argued that a divestiture was “simply not possible,” especially within the law’s 270-day timeline, pointing to difficulties such as Beijing’s refusal to sell a key feature that powers TikTok in the United States.
“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide,” the company said in the 67-page petition, which initiated the lawsuit. “There is no question: The act will force a shutdown of TikTok by Jan. 19, 2025.”
Today, oral arguments were held before a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals and lawyers for TikTok made their case.
In a two-hour hearing, lawyers for TikTok argued that its current business structure is protected by its free speech rights under the First Amendment and that the government’s argument against Chinese influence over TikTok’s algorithms is unsupported.
“The government is just flat wrong,” TikTok’s lawyer, Andrew Pincus said. “The recommendation engine itself is influenced in the U.
