TikTok and ByteDance go to court to block Biden’s move to ban the app from the country

O TikTok and its Chinese matrix, ByteDancefiled a lawsuit against the United States government this Tuesday, 7th, claiming that the law that threatens to ban the platform from the country next year is “unconstitutional”.

The legislation, approved at the end of April, gives ByteDance a 12-month deadline to sell TikTok, at the risk of banning the app in the US.

Washington has expressed concerns that the app could collect data that would be used by the Chinese government for espionage and propaganda.

However, TikTok, along with several personalities and NGOsargues that the legislation violates users’ freedom of expression, guaranteed by First Amendment to the US Constitution.

“This is the first time in history that Congress has passed a law that permanently bans a platform nationwide, preventing all Americans from participating in an online community with more than a billion people around the world,” lawyers for the TikTok in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington.

ByteDance has repeatedly denied any relationship with the Chinese government and said it has never shared, nor will it share, American users’ private data with Beijing.

To calm fears about security, the company invested around US$1.5 billion in the “Texas Project”, which aims to store data from American users within the country.

Recently, rumors emerged about the possible sale of TikTok by ByteDance, without the algorithm that recommends videos to more than a billion users.

ByteDance has denied the possibility, but critics continue to demand the separation of the algorithm from the Chinese company.

Analysts suggest that in the case of TikTok, national security concerns could outweigh free speech before the Supreme Court.

With information from AFP