Popular video-sharing platform TikTok and its owner ByteDance filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government on Tuesday in an effort to stop a law that could lead to a nationwide ban of the app. The companies allege that the law, which was signed by President Joe Biden last month, is unconstitutional because it suppresses free speech and prevents users from accessing lawful information.
The law mandates that ByteDance, a Chinese company, sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner within the next year or be banned from use for the U.S. It was introduced due to concerns that ByteDance could share Americans’ data with the Chinese government, though it has vehemently denied that this has ever happened.
“For the first time in history,” the petition filed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said. “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.”
