TikTok has asked the Supreme Court to block a law requiring its parent company, ByteDance, to divest the app by January 19 or face a U.S. ban.
Yesterday, the company appealed a lower court ruling that upheld the law, which the Justice Department claims poses national security risks due to access to user data and potential content manipulation.
On December 6, the D.C. Circuit Court rejected TikTok’s First Amendment argument.
In their filing, TikTok and ByteDance argued that “if Americans, fully informed of the alleged risks of ‘covert’ content manipulation, choose to continue viewing content on TikTok with their eyes wide open, the First Amendment grants them the right to make that choice free from government censorship.”
They further stated, “If the D.C. Circuit’s contrary ruling stands, Congress will have the authority to ban any American from speaking simply by identifying some risk that the speech is influenced by a foreign entity.”
Approximately 170 million people in the US use TikTok.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
