A lawyer for TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance faced tough questions in a U.S. appeals court on Monday as they argued their lawsuit to block a law that could ban the short-form video app used by 170 million Americans.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit began hearing arguments in the lawsuit filed byTikTok and ByteDance in May, requesting an injunction to prevent the law from coming into force.
The justices questioned TikTok’s lawyer, Andrew Pincus, who argued that the U.S. government had failed to show that TikTok posed national security risks and that the law violates the Constitution on several grounds, including by failing to uphold First Amendment free speech protections.
“The law before this court is unprecedented, and its effect would be astonishing,” Pincus told the justices, stating that “for the first time in history, Congress has expressly targeted a speaker.” specific American, banning their expression and that of 170 million Americans.”
The law gives ByteDance until January 19 to sell or divest TikTok’s US assets or face a ban in the United States. Concerns among U.S. lawmakers that China could access or spy on Americans’ data using the app prompted the U.S. Congress to pass the measure with overwhelming support.
The law bars app stores like Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google from offering TikTok and prohibits internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance divests itself of TikTok by a deadline. Under the law, President Joe Biden could extend the deadline by three months if he certifies that ByteDance is moving toward a sale.
