Tech Desk
May 29, 2024
A court in the US has fast-tracked an appeal against its government's decision to ban TikTok and arguments against the legislation are expected to be filed within the next three weeks.
The parent company, ByteDance, is battling legislation which compels it, to either sell its application to an American company or have it outright banned from the US, a prospect it deems unconstitutional and in violation of the First Amendment.
In March of this year, the House deliberated to either have the app banned entirely or have it sold to an American-based company.
However, upon coming up against some resistance in the Senate, the Department of Justice pushed for the sale option, paving the way for it to be signed into law by President Bident this past week.
This gives ByteDance nine months' time to either have its application sold or have it banned.
TikTok sues US govt
Wired reported that the Parent Company has now sued the US government on grounds of it having allegedly violated the Constitution.
The Lawsuit read: “If Congress can do this, it can circumvent the First Amendment by invoking national security and ordering the publisher of any individual newspaper or website to sell to avoid being shut down, And for TikTok, any such divestiture would disconnect Americans from the rest of the global community on a platform devoted to shared content — an outcome fundamentally at odds with the Constitution’s commitment to both free speech and individual liberty”.
The impending legal battle is expected to be much more contentious than expected, last year’s decision by a Montanan judge to strike down the state’s TikTok ban is bound to make an appearence.
ByteDance plans to file its arguments upon the very same basis, contending with the US government's national security justifications.
The case will commence this September.
