TikTok seeks legal alternative to avoid US ban

TikTok, the popular short-form video social network, is in crisis in the United States. That deadline is approaching, as President Joe Biden signed a law in April 2024 that would require platforms to sell their businesses within nine months to continue operating in the country. In response, TikTok has announced a new legal strategy to avoid an imminent ban.

Comparison with other media and defense of freedom of expression

The platform’s main defense is that it should be treated as a foreign-owned media company, like other outlets that operate legally in the United States but are owned by foreign companies. TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, argues that the U.S. government’s proposed ban would violate free speech, a right protected by the First Amendment. Recent filings have compared the platform to media companies like Politico and Business Insider, which are foreign-owned but still have legal protections in the United States.

The settlement strengthens TikTok’s position by arguing that U.S. companies that publish content for U.S. audiences do not lose constitutional protections just because they are foreign-owned. TikTok therefore claims that this ban is an unjustified attack on its functionality and is unprecedented in U.S. history.

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^{TikTok in China (Photo: reproduction/NurPhoto/Getty Images Embed)}

Department of Justice Response and Potential Consequences

However, the US Department of Justice has refuted TikTok’s claims, particularly considering that the app has been used by the Chinese government to spread political propaganda and collect the personal data of 170 million users in the country, saying it does not qualify for First Amendment protections. The government argues that these concerns justify the need to ban the app if ByteDance does not sell its business in the United States.

If the Biden Act goes into effect, app stores like Apple's App Store and Google Play will be forced to remove TikTok, and new downloads of the app will no longer be available in the United States starting in April 2025. So the legal battle between TikTok and the U.S. government continues, with serious implications for free speech and national security.

Featured photo: USA and TikTok (Reproduction/CFOTO/Getty Images Embed)