The United States government and TikTok will face off in federal court on Monday, as oral arguments begin in a pivotal legal issue that may determine whether or not a popular social media platform used by nearly half of all Americans will continue to operate in the country.
The federal appeals court in Washington will have judges on the panel that will hear arguments from the attorneys for the two parties.
A US statute that mandates TikTok and its parent firm, ByteDance, based in China, to sever links or face a ban in the US by mid-January is being contested by the two companies.
President Joe Biden signed the bill into law in April, capping a protracted legal battle in Washington over the short-form video-sharing app, which the government views as a national security risk because of its ties to China.
However, TikTok contends that the law violates the First Amendment, while other opponents say it is reminiscent of the occasional crackdowns observed in foreign authoritarian nations.
TikTok has stated time and time again that it does not provide the Chinese government with user data from US users and that the fears the government has voiced are unfounded.
Attorneys for TikTok and its parent company have contended in court documents that members of Congress attempted to penalize the platform because of what they believed to be propaganda on TikTok.
Additionally, the companies asserted that if the courts don’t intervene to prevent the law, divestiture is not feasible and the app will need to be discontinued by January 19.
Opponents of the law stress a ban would also cause disruptions in the world of marketing, retail and in the lives of many different content creators, some of whom also sued the government in May.
TikTok claims to have spent more than USD2 billion voluntarily implementing some of these steps, including storing US user data on Oracle-controlled servers.
However, a settlement was not struck since government officials effectively walked away from the bargaining table in August 2022.
Due to TikTok’s scale and technical complexity, justice officials claim that compliance with the draft agreement is difficult or would need enormous resources.
The Justice Department also stated that the best way to address the government’s concerns is to cut ties between TikTok and ByteDance, given the porous relationship between the Chinese government and Chinese enterprises.
ByteDance has openly said that TikTok is not for sale. Despite this, several investors, like former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and millionaire Frank McCourt, have announced offers to buy the platform.
In court, free speech and social justice organizations have filed amicus papers in favor of TikTok, alleging that it violates users’ First Amendment rights and suppresses minority community speech by interrupting a tool that many of them use to fight for causes online.
