TikTok has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, seeking to halt the enforcement of a recently passed bill that forces ByteDance to sell the app or face a permanent ban, NBC News reports.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., asserts that the legislation, dubbed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, violates the constitutional right to free speech.
According to TikTok, this bill represents an unprecedented encroachment on the First Amendment by Congress, subjecting a single platform to nationwide prohibition and depriving Americans of access to a global online community of over 1 billion users.
The company argues that invoking national security concerns as grounds for restricting free speech is insufficient and places the burden on the government to justify such restrictions, which, according to TikTok, it has failed to do.
Responses from the Department of Justice and the White House regarding the lawsuit are pending.
John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan and chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, defended the legislation, emphasizing its importance in addressing national security threats posed by TikTok.
In addition to concerns over the violation of free speech rights, TikTok’s lawsuit raises issues related to due process and argues that the law effectively amounts to a ban on the platform without providing feasible divestment alternatives.
Critics warn that if left unchallenged, this legislation could set a dangerous precedent, enabling the government to target other platforms under the guise of national security.
