TikTok is set to face off with US officials in court on Monday, when arguments begin on its suit against a new law that would ban the short-video app in the country unless it decouples from its Chinese owner ByteDance.
TikTok and ByteDance are seeking an injunction against the law, which they say is unconstitutional and violates Americans’ free speech rights.
If the firms’ legal endeavour fails, TikTok will face a ban in its second-biggest market as soon as January 19.
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US President Joe Biden could extend that deadline by three months, however, if he certifies ByteDance is making significant progress toward divestiture of its US assets from ByteDance.
The case will be heard by circuit Judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao and Douglas Ginsburg of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Key things to know
The US Congress passed the divest-or-ban law overwhelmingly in April — just weeks after it was introduced — driven by worries that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could use TikTok to spy on Americans.
The US Justice Department says TikTok under Chinese ownership poses a serious national security threat because of its access to vast personal data of Americans. China can covertly manipulate information that Americans consume via TikTok, the agency asserts.
“The serious national security threat posed by TikTok is real,” the department said.
TikTok has, meanwhile, denied China can access its data.
Furthermore, ByteDance says a US divestiture is “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally”. If the divestment law is not struck down, it will lead to an unprecedented ban on TikTok, the company has said in earlier court filings.
TikTok and the Justice Department have asked for a ruling by December 6, which could allow the US Supreme Court to consider an appeal before any ban takes effect.
Political stakes
The arguments starting Monday could put TikTok’s fate in the middle of the final weeks of the presidential campaign.
Both Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are active on TikTok — an app used by 170 million Americans — seeking to court younger voters.
The White House says it wants to see Chinese-based ownership ended on national security grounds, but not a ban on TikTok. Harris echoed that claim in March in a conversation with ABC News, saying: “We need to deal with the owner and we have national security concerns about the owner of TikTok, but we have no intention to ban TikTok.”
Trump, meanwhile, who unsuccessfully tried to ban TikTok in 2020, said recently if elected, he would not allow TikTok to be banned.
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- Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena
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