Tik Tok She provided her opening summary in Legal battle to stay in the United StatesArguing that the government’s ban on the app violates the First Amendment right to free speech. He also explained why divestment from Chinese parent company ByteDance is “technologically, commercially and legally” unfeasible.
It was filed with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on Thursday. 99-page TikTok file Calls for a reconsideration of constitutionality Protecting Americans from Foreign Controlled Applications Act (Bavaka), who was President Joe Biden signed it into law in April.
A complaint about children’s privacy on TikTok has been sent to the US Department of Justice
The legislation introduces a US ban on “apps controlled by foreign adversaries,” and specifically includes both TikTok and ByteDance by name. Companies have Maintain it constantly They are independent from the Chinese government It did not provide it with Americans’ data.
“Never before has Congress silenced so much speech in one act,” the TikTok filing reads. “The law is unconstitutional and should be banned.”
The US TikTok ban is accused of violating the right to freedom of expression
In the filing, TikTok notes that it is subject to laws restricting freedom of expression “Strict scrutiny.” Under this standard, the US government must demonstrate that legislation is narrowly designed to advance a compelling government interest, and that the law in question is the least restrictive way to achieve that goal.
Essentially, the government cannot outright crush free speech to achieve its goals when a surgical strike would suffice.
TikTok says Congress failed to meet this requirement because it did not consider less restrictive alternatives before passing a law to ban the app. Such options allegedly included the 90-page national security agreement that TikTok negotiated with the US government, which included “multi-layered safeguards and enforcement mechanisms.” Texas projectTikTok’s $2 billion effort to black out US users’ data was allegedly the company’s effort to start implementing parts of the agreement before it was finalized.
“The law cannot survive First Amendment scrutiny at any step of the analysis: it advances no compelling interests, is not designed, and ignores less restrictive alternatives,” TikTok’s filing said.
“There is no indication that Congress has even considered TikTok Inc.’s comprehensive efforts over many years to address government concerns that Chinese subsidiaries of its privately-owned parent, ByteDance Ltd., support the TikTok platform — concerns that may apply “Also to many other companies operating in China.”
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TikTok has also objected to PAFACA’s “two-tiered speech regulation system” which it claims unfairly isolates the company. Noting that the legislation automatically considers an app a “controlled foreign adversary” if it is operated by ByteDance or TikTok, the filing claims the law imposes “one standard for TikTok and a different standard for everyone else.”
last year TikTok has successfully overcome the ban in Montana, The judge held that the law was unconstitutional on the grounds that it restricted freedom of expression and imposed punishment on the company without a trial.
TikTok claims divestment is ‘not possible’
Thursday’s file was also taken up He claims that the ban is not actually a ban Because ByteDance can only sell TikTok to a US-approved company. According to TikTok, this divestment within the imposed time frame cannot feasibly be done within the time frame available to them. The ban is currently scheduled to take effect on January 19 next year, nine months after the bill was signed.
“Implementing a ‘qualified divestiture’ is not technologically, commercially, and legally feasible, particularly within the law’s 270-day time frame (or 360 days with a discretionary extension),” TikTok wrote, adding that it had made that “repeatedly” clear to the government. . “So the effect of the law is a ban.”
Even if a divestment from ByteDance were possible, a report on Thursday claimed that such a move would turn TikTok in the US into “a version of its former self.”
According to TikTok, the app runs on “billions of lines of code” developed and maintained by thousands of employees around the world. The company said divestment would require new engineers to be properly trained in the code, a process that would likely take years. Furthermore, TikTok uses custom software tools from ByteDance – tools that the new legislation will prohibit it from accessing once it is withdrawn.
Even if a divestment from ByteDance were possible, a report on Thursday claimed that such a move would turn TikTok in the US into “a version of its former self.” TikTok, which is exclusive to the US, should be separated and isolated from all other users around the world, making it less attractive and significantly reducing its commercial value.
Finally, TikTok stated that it could not legally proceed with the sale due to… The Chinese government will not allow forced divestment From the app’s recommendations engine.
“Just as the United States restricts the export of U.S.-origin technologies (for example, some computer chips), the Chinese government regulates the transfer of technologies developed in China,” the brief said. The United States has banned the sale of computer chips to companies in Chinaincluding advanced artificial intelligence chips.
Mashable has reached out to TikTok for comment.
It will be some time before we know the outcome of TikTok’s legal challenge. Oral arguments are currently scheduled to take place in three months on September 16, four months before the ban goes into effect.
US TikTok ban follows Constant anxiety Lawmakers claim that the Chinese government is secretly spying on users through the popular app, as well as manipulating its algorithms to show China in a positive light. No evidence has yet been presented publicly to prove that this actually happened. The senators also accused TikTok of intentional promotion Palestine’s support for youth In order to cause societal division in the United States
If the TikTok challenge fails, PAFACA could fine the company up to $5,000 per US user. TikTok has 170 million users in the United States (which Hypocrisy Includes both President Biden And Former President Donald Trump), which means it could be subject to a huge fine of about $850 billion if it continues to operate in the country. ByteDance’s value reached $223 billion last October.