TikTok’s Fate Hangs in the Balance as US Justice Department Files Response to Lawsuit
The US Justice Department has filed its response to TikTok’s civil suit, which aims to derail a law that would force the popular social media app to be sold or face a US ban. The law, signed by President Joe Biden earlier this year, sets a mid-January 2025 deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban.
TikTok’s suit argues that the law violates its First Amendment rights of free speech, while the US response counters that the law addresses national security concerns, not speech. The Justice Department claims that TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is not able to claim First Amendment rights in the US.
Senior Justice Department officials expressed concerns that ByteDance could comply with Chinese government demands for data about US users or yield to pressure to censor or promote content on the platform. “The goal of this law is to ensure that young people, old people and everyone in between is able to use the platform in a safe manner,” a senior official said.
The Justice Department also argued that the law’s focus on foreign ownership of TikTok takes it out of the realm of the First Amendment. US intelligence agencies are concerned that China can “weaponize” mobile apps, and that the Chinese government has been pursuing large, structured datasets of Americans through various means.
TikTok has said that the demanded divestiture is “simply not possible” and not on the timeline required. ByteDance has no plans to sell TikTok, leaving the lawsuit as its only option to avoid a ban. The lawsuit claims that the law will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, “silencing those who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.”
The fate of TikTok hangs in the balance as the lawsuit is likely to go to the US Supreme Court. There are serious doubts that any buyer could emerge to purchase TikTok, even if ByteDance would agree to the request. Big tech’s usual suspects, such as Facebook parent Meta or YouTube’s Google, will likely be barred from snapping up TikTok over antitrust concerns, and others could not afford one of the world’s most successful apps used by about 170 million people in the United States alone.
The outcome of this lawsuit will have significant implications for free speech and national security concerns in the US.
