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ByteDance is being forced to sell its stake in TikTok in the US or face a national ban, but the companies claim this isn’t possible and that the move is ‘unconstitutional’.
TikTok has struck back against plans to ban the app in the US, by suing the country’s government over its recently approved divestment bill.
This legislation was passed by US president Joe Biden last month after gaining approval from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Act gives TikTok owner ByteDance nine months to sell its stake in the US version of the app, or face a total ban in the country.
In TikTok’s court filing shared by The Verge, the company said this type of divestment is not possible and calls the Act “unconstitutional”.
“Banning TikTok is so obviously unconstitutional, in fact, that even the Act’s sponsors recognised 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,” the company said.
TikTok claims the divestment being demanded by the US government is not possible commercially technologically, legally and “certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the Act”.
“Even if a ‘qualified divestiture’ were feasible, the Act would still be an extraordinary and unconstitutional assertion of power,” TikTok claimed. “If upheld, it would allow the government to decide that a company may no longer own and publish the innovative and unique speech platform it created.”
Those in favour of the divestment have argued that Chinese law could compel companies such as TikTok to hand over data to the country’s government and pose a national security risk in the US.
The threat of a ban has been developing in the background for some time, as TikTok confirmed last year that it was issued an ultimatum by US officials to adjust its ownership.
Multiple governments around the world have shared concerns about TikTok’s connection with China’s government, with many nations banning government staff from accessing the app on government devices as a result.
In response to these concerns, TikTok has been working on initiatives to keep data within the regions that it operates. These initiatives are known as Project Clover in the EU and Project Texas in the US.
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