TikTok is suing the United States government in an effort to block a law that would ban TikTok if its parent company, ByteDance, fails to sell it within a year. The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, argues that the bill violates the U.S. Constitution. TikTok says the law comes as odds with the Constitution’s commitment to “both free speech and individual liberty.”
“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide,” the lawsuit reads. “That law — the Protecting Americans From Foreign
Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the “Act”) — is unconstitutional.”
The lawsuit states that the U.S. government has not offered evidence to support its claims that the app poses risks to national security.
“The statements of congressional committees and individual Members of Congress during the hasty, closed-door legislative process preceding the Act’s enactment confirm that there is at most speculation, not ‘evidence,’ as the First Amendment requires,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit comes two weeks after President Biden signed the bill, giving ByteDance until January 19 to sell the app or face a ban, bringing the possibility of a TikTok ban closer to reality than ever before.
This story is developing…
