TikTok has filed a lawsuit against the United States over a recently signed bill that requires ByteDance to either sell off its shares in TikTok, or face a ban in the country — calling it “unconstitutional.”
TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chewquickly responded to it being signed,saying that the potential ban infringes on citizens’ right to free speech and that the company plans to fight the law in court.
“Congress has taken the unprecedented step of expressly singling out and banning TikTok: a vibrant online forum for protected speech and expression used by 170 million Americans to create, share,and view videos over the Internet,” it reads.
“That law — the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the “Act”) — is unconstitutional.” They went on to explain that the bill’s sponsors claim that the act is not a ban because it offers ByteDance the option to sell of its shares.
“However, the company says there’s no choice as the “qualified divesture” isn’t possible. “The “qualified divestiture” demanded by the Act to allow TikTok to continue operating in the UnitedStates is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally. And certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the Act,” it says.
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ByteDance goes on to explain that the ban on TikTok is against the US’s First Amendment, which is the right to free speech and assembly in the country.
Dylan Horetski is a Senior Writer on Dexerto’s US team. He is an expert Entertainment reporter, covering Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, Tech, and viral news. He also has bylines at IGN. You can contact him at: dylan.horetski@dexerto.com
