TikTok and ByteDance file lawsuit against US forced sale, citing free speech concerns

TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday (7 May) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, contesting a new American statute that mandates the sale of the video-sharing app to a U.S.-approved buyer by 19 January 2025 or cease its operations in the U.S.

The companies argue that the legislation, which is part of a larger US$95 billion U.S. foreign aid package signed into law by President Joe Biden on 24 April, unfairly targets TikTok and infringes upon constitutional rights, including those protected by the First Amendment.

The lawsuit criticizes the so-called Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act as an “unprecedented attack” on free speech.

The two companies contend that the law paints its ownership of TikTok as a national security threat without substantiated evidence, attempting to bypass First Amendment protections by framing the act not as a prohibition but as a regulation of ownership.

They also argue that their rights under the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause are being violated because it singles the two companies out for adverse treatment without any reason for doing so.

According to the legal filing, this marks the first time in history that a law has been enacted in the U.S. that could lead to a nationwide ban on a specific, named digital platform, preventing Americans from accessing a global online community that boasts over 1 billion users worldwide.

The company claims that divesting in such a manner would be impossible without the inclusion of the crucial algorithm that drives user engagement—a component the Chinese government is unlikely to allow to be part of any sale.

ByteDance has said it “doesn’t have any plan to sell TikTok.”

The lawsuit also describes the impossibility of severing the U.S. TikTok operations from its global network, arguing that such a move would create an isolated and detached version of the app in the U.S., fundamentally different from the one used by the rest of the world.

“But in reality, there is no choice. The “qualified divestiture” demanded by the Act to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally. And certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the Act. Petitioners have repeatedly explained this to the U.S. government, and sponsors of the Act were aware that divestment is not possible. ” wrote the two companies in their petition.

The legislation seeking the forced sale or ban received bipartisan support, with administration and law enforcement officials expressing concerns that Chinese authorities could compel ByteDance to hand over U.S. user data or influence public opinion by manipulating the algorithm that populates users’ feeds.

The companies, however, noted in their petition that they have worked with the government for four years on a voluntary basis to develop a framework to address the US government’s concerns.

“As part of this engagement, Petitioners have voluntarily invested more than $2 billion to build a system of technological and governance protections — sometimes referred to as “Project Texas” — to help safeguard U.S. user data and the integrity of the U.S. TikTok platform against foreign government influence.”