Highlights

  • TikTok sued the United States government over a bill targeting ByteDance, pushing back against a possible "TikTok ban."
  • Online rumors fueled speculation about a potential TikTok ban, but the legislation raises First Amendment concerns.
  • TikTok's lawsuit argues that the bill is unconstitutional and stifles Americans' free speech, seeking specific relief in response.

TikTok sued the United States government on May 7th, contesting a then-recently passed bill pertaining to the app's status in the United States.

TikTok's suit against the federal government is the latest development in a protracted back and forth between TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, and various lawmakers.

Much of the information circulating about a putative "TikTok ban" (and legislation purportedly advancing it) has been in the form of online rumors.

TikTok's suit and the legislation behind it involves a few separate elements, starting with a bill targeting ByteDance.

Let's take a look.

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Did The American Government 'Ban' TikTok?

If you spend any amount of time on social media, you've likely encountered posts or videos suggesting that the United States government "banned" TikTok.

Mentions of a "TikTok ban" were common in early 2024, but rarely were they accompanied by any information explaining what a "TikTok ban" might look like.

The 'TikTok Ban' Bill

On March 13th, the United States' House of Representatives voted on and ultimately passed a bill specifically targeting TikTok.

The bill – formally named "the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" – mentioned TikTok and ByteDance by name.

It was summarized in part as follows by Congress.gov:

"This bill prohibits distributing, maintaining, or providing internet hosting services for a foreign adversary controlled application (e.g., TikTok). However, the prohibition does not apply to a covered application that executes a qualified divestiture as determined by the President.

"Under the bill, a foreign adversary controlled application is directly or indirectly operated by (1) ByteDance, Ltd. or TikTok (including subsidiaries or successors that are controlled by a foreign adversary); or (2) a social media company that is controlled by a foreign adversary and has been determined by the President to present a significant threat to national security.

"The prohibition does not apply to an application that is primarily used to post product reviews, business reviews, or travel information and reviews."

CNN's coverage of the vote indicated that support for the bill was "bipartisan [and] overwhelming," and the outlet reported:

"The bill would prohibit TikTok from US app stores unless the social media platform — used by roughly 170 million Americans — is spun off from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. It’s not yet clear what the future of the bill will be in the Senate.

"The House vote was 352 to 65, with 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans voting in opposition."

As noted by CNN, the vote would functionally force ByteDance to sell TikTok in a relatively brief time frame:

"The bill would give ByteDance roughly five months to sell TikTok. If not divested by that time, it would be illegal for app store operators such as Apple and Google to make it available for download."

Why Does The Government Want To 'Ban' TikTok?

As for why the government sought to restrict TikTok access, the New York Times published an explainer on April 26th, two days after President Biden signed the bill into law:

"Concerns that the Chinese government could access sensitive user data through the short-form video app TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, have prompted the U.S. government to pass legislation banning the social media platform unless it is sold to a government-approved buyer."

Per the Times, TikTok unsurprisingly objected to the bill, and encouraged its American users to petition their lawmakers:

"TikTok has referred to the bans as 'political theater' and criticized lawmakers for attempting to censor Americans.

"In March, [TikTok] urged users in a pop-up message to call lawmakers to oppose a TikTok ban. Some Capitol Hill offices said they have been flooded with calls."

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TikTok Sues The United States Government

As noted above, TikTok sued the government on May 7th — a formal, legal challenge to the bill widely anticipated when it was first passed and signed into law.

In separate CNN coverage of the March 13th vote, the site carried a statement from a TikTok spokesperson, decrying the bill:

This process was secret, and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban ... We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service.

As was widely speculated, TikTok sued, filing a 70-page petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Myriad outlets reported that TikTok's suit hinged on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which holds:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

TikTok's suit opened with an accusation that the bill was "unprecedented" in terms of limiting a platform for "speech" — an indirect reference to the First Amendment:

"Congress has taken the unprecedented step of expressly singling out and banning TikTok: a vibrant online forum for protected speech and expression used by 170 million Americans to create, share, and view videos over the Internet.

"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."

In the very next section, TikTok explicitly described the bill as "unconstitutional," further accusing lawmakers of intentionally evading First Amendment protections in the manner in which the bill was structured:

"That law - the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the 'Act') - is unconstitutional.

"Banning TikTok is so obviously unconstitutional, in fact, that even the Act's sponsors recognized that reality, and therefore have tried mightily to depict the law not as a ban at all, but merely a regulation of TikTok's ownership ...

"[Lawmakers] claim that the act is not a ban because it offers ByteDance a choice: divest TikTok's U.S. business or be shut down."

On the day TikTok sued the government, NPR covered the filing, reporting that the app indicated its attempts to come to an agreement with lawmakers and agencies were rebuffed in favor of political showboating:

"In the filing on Tuesday [March 7th], TikTok said it submitted an agreement to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which has been probing the app for five years, that would allow the U.S. to suspend TikTok if it violated terms set forth in a national security plan.

"But, lawyers for TikTok say, the deal was swept aside, 'in favor of the politically expedient and punitive approach,' the petition states."

Finally, TikTok's suit indicated that the divestment demand was "simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally ... [and] certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the Act."

Although TikTok's suit remains pending, the app sought specific relief in response to the motion: the issuance of a "declaratory judgment" affirming that the bill violates the Constitution, the issuance of an "order enjoining the Attorney General from enforcing" the bill, a judgment in favor of TikTok, and "any further relief" the court deems "appropriate."

The bill over which TikTok sued the government is intended to take effect by January 2025.

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