US government says TikTok poses threat to national security

The US Justice Department defended a law that aims to either ban TikTok or force it to divest its assets in the US after the social media company filed a lawsuit against the legislation.

Under the law, the social media platform will have to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the US by January 19, 2025.

The Chinese-based  TikTokis challenging the law before a US appeals court.

What did the Justice Department say in its court response?

On Friday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that Byte Dance, which is TikTok's parent company, might obey orders from the Chinese government and give it access to US users' data. They said that Chinese officials could also order TikTok to manipulate the app's algorithm and thus expand Beijing's "existing malign influence operations" and boost its efforts "to undermine trust in our democracy and exacerbate social divisions."

"The serious national-security threat posed by TikTok is real," the department said in the filing.

"The goal of this law is to ensure that young people, old people and everyone in between can use the platform in a safe manner," a senior justice department official told the AFP news agency.

TikTok has repeatedly asserted that it would never share US user data with China.

"The government has never put forth proof of its claims, including when Congress passed this unconstitutional law. Today, once again, the government is taking this unprecedented step while hiding behind secret information", TikTok posted on social media platform X in response to the DOJ brief.
 

What is TikTok's lawsuit about?

TikTok had filed a suit in a US federal court saying that the law threatening its ban violates the right to free speech enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

"For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide," said the suit by TikTok and ByteDance.

However, the DOJ's response argues that the law's focus on foreign ownership of TikTok takes it out of the realm of the First Amendment.

TikTok has said the demanded divestment by next January was "simply not possible."

 

mfi/dj (AFP, Reuters)