The legal battle over TikTok’s future is underway
Image: Celal Gunes/Getty
On Thursday, TikTok filed the first legal briefs in a lawsuit that will determine whether Gen Z Americans have to join their millennial elders on Reels.
Background: In early April, President Biden signed into law a series of bipartisan bills that, in addition to providing $95+ billion in foreign aid, also require Chinese tech giant ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations within the next nine months or face a ban.
US lawmakers point to two main reasons for the TikTok sale-or-ban measure:
- ByteDance’s ownership of the app raises fears that the data of TikTok’s ~170 million US users could end up in the hands of the Chinese government.
- There’s also a concern that Beijing could put its thumb on the app’s algorithm to influence US public opinion and promote its own interests.
However, TikTok paints a different picture. In its new legal briefs, the social media giant maintains that it has never sent US user data to the Chinese government, and wouldn’t do so if it was requested. TikTok also argues the sale-or-ban law unfairly targets ByteDance while ignoring other China-linked platforms, and illegally violates Americans’ First Amendment rights.
- Additionally, TikTok claims a sale of its US operations would be financially and technically impossible within the government’s deadline, essentially turning the law into a US TikTok ban – which was previously struck down in court as government overreach.
Looking ahead… Both TikTok and the US government are seeking a ruling on the sale-or-ban law by early December, which would allow for a possible Supreme Court review before the law takes effect on January 19.
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See a 360° view of what media pundits are saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that if Congress wants Americans to support its ban of TikTok, lawmakers need to show precisely on what grounds the US is banning one of the world’s most popular and culturally significant social networks.
- Others contend that TikTok and other Chinese apps should be allowed access to the US market, since there’s nothing unique about their data collection practices compared to thousands of other apps that one can download.
- “If TikTok Is Such a Threat, Show Us the Receipts” –Dave Lee, Bloomberg
- “TikTok ban: Is it about data collection or punishing China?” –Jon Decker, Boston Globe
- “How, exactly, is TikTok a threat to national security?” –George F. Will, WaPo
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that the government’s TikTok ban isn’t an assault on free speech, since the First Amendment doesn’t apply to Beijing, and also wouldn’t allow lawmakers to ban American-controlled platforms, as some commentators have cynically argued.
- Others contend that many people who push back against the TikTok ban, including the majority of congressional Democrats, only do so because they themselves are addicted to the app, and not because of noble reasons like protecting freedom of speech.
- “Conservatives have been warning about TikTok for years” –Jeff M. Smith and Andrew J. Harding, Washington Times
- “Senate Democrats pump brakes on TikTok ban — because they’re addicted, too” –NY Post Editorial Board
- “TikTok’s Conduct Isn’t Free Speech” –Brendan Carr, WSJ
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