TikTok Accuses US Government Of ‘Circumventing The First Amendment’

TikTok is upholding its promise to fight against the US government’s proposed ban.

The media-sharing platform recently sued the US government, accusing it of abusing its First Amendment rights. In the lawsuit, TikTok stressed that forcing its Chinese parent company to sell the social media site or risk a national ban was illegal.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday, marked TikTok’s most significant move against the US government. It showed they remain confident in their innocence and are willing to fight lawmakers’ claims about them.

The American government has repeatedly accused TikTok, owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance, of being a national security threat. However, they have been unable to prove the media-sharing platform has provided user data to the Chinese government.

Government officials and lawmakers have also failed to show that TikTok directly influences the content users see on the platform. Given the lack of evidence to back the government’s claims, the social media site hopes to dismiss the national ban.

According to Hollywood Reporter, the company issued a statement saying, “Today, we filed a petition in federal court seeking to overturn the unconstitutional TikTok ban.” They claimed that this was a fight to protect their freedom of speech and that of their users.

In the lawsuit, TikTok stressed that if the ban is upheld, the law will allow the US government to “circumvent the First Amendment by invoking national security.”

The company claimed that the aftermath of this would see websites or publishers being cornered into selling to “avoid being shut down.” It doubled down on the ban being “obviously unconstitutional,” especially the divestiture demanded by the legislation.

According to TikTok, selling the video-sharing platform to continue operating in America was “simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally.”

Under the law, TikTok has roughly nine months to divest from ByteDance. It would also receive an additional 90 days extension from President Joe Biden if “significant progress” has been made toward a sale.

If TikTok cannot or refuses to divest from its Chinese parent company, web-hosting services and mobile app stores in America would be barred from carrying the app, effectively becoming a national ban.

The lawsuit claimed that by banning all TikTok offerings and ByteDance subsidiaries, the US government had created a law “curtailing massive amounts of protected speech.”

The platform noted that its algorithm recommending or blocking certain news items to users as a news source constitutes the “exercise of editorial control and judgment” protected under the First Amendment.

TikTok also argued that its speech was being suppressed, stressing that it had partnered with Oracle to move its data on users stored on foreign servers to Texas. The initiative, called Project Texas, was the platform’s response to the US government’s national security concerns.

Last month, The Blast reported that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew had addressed the ban shortly after Biden signed off on the national security bill. He explained what the bill entailed and how it would affect American platform users.

According to Chew, the bill was “designed to ban TikTok in the United States,” meaning that 170 million Americans will lose access to the “community and connection” found on the platform. He noted the ban would suppress their freedom of speech, saying:

“Make no mistake, this is a ban, a ban on TikTok, and a ban on you and your voice. Politicians may say otherwise. But don’t get confused; many who sponsored the bill admit that a TikTok ban is their ultimate goal.”

The platform’s CEO hinted that the company would argue for freedom of speech against the ban. He also noted that while the bill becoming law was “a disappointing moment,” it did not have to define their future.

In his powerful statement, Chew stressed TikTok’s significance to Americans and how it upheld the values that made the country “a beacon of freedom.” He noted that it was ironic that the US government would fight against the freedom of expression that TikTok offered.

Nonetheless, he reassured fans that their safe space would not be taken from them without a fight. “We are confident, and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts. The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail,” Chew declared.

He also encouraged TikTok users to share their stories about how TikTok impacts their lives to showcase what they were fighting for. Several fans responded to his words, commenting how the platform makes them laugh and allows them to express themselves.