Authored by David Shepardson
(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice has urged a federal appeals court to uphold a law passed in April that requires China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. assets by Jan. 19 or face a ban.
In its filing, the DOJ argued that TikTok, under Chinese ownership, poses a significant national security threat due to its access to vast amounts of personal data of Americans. The department asserted that China could potentially manipulate information consumed by Americans through TikTok.
“The serious national security threat posed by TikTok is real,” the department stated. “TikTok provides the Chinese government with the means to undermine U.S. national security through data collection and covert content manipulation.”
The Biden administration has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to dismiss lawsuits filed by TikTok, parent company ByteDance, and a group of TikTok creators seeking to block the law that could result in a ban on the app used by 170 million Americans.
TikTok has consistently denied allegations that it would share U.S. user data with China or manipulate video results.
In response to the DOJ’s brief, TikTok posted on social media platform X, stating, “The government has not provided evidence to support its claims. Today, once again, the government is taking unprecedented action while hiding behind classified information.”
The DOJ’s filing outlined various national security concerns regarding ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok.
“China’s long-term geopolitical strategy involves developing and positioning assets that can be used at strategic moments,” the department explained.
The government acknowledged in a separate statement that it had no information indicating that the Chinese government had accessed the data of U.S. TikTok users. However, it emphasized that the potential risk was too great to ignore.
The government also submitted a classified document detailing additional security concerns about ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok to the court, along with declarations from the FBI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and DOJ’s National Security Division.
The law, signed by President Joe Biden on April 24, requires ByteDance to sell TikTok by Jan. 19 or face a ban. The White House aims to remove Chinese-based ownership for national security reasons, rather than imposing a ban on TikTok.
The DOJ rejected all arguments raised by TikTok, including the claim that the law violates the First Amendment rights of American users. The department emphasized that the law addresses national security concerns related to China’s potential exploitation of TikTok for accessing sensitive personal information of Americans.
The DOJ highlighted that TikTok users have other popular platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and X as alternatives. The department also criticized TikTok’s $2 billion plan to protect U.S. user data, stating that it was insufficient due to the lack of trust in ByteDance’s capabilities.
The appeals court is scheduled to hold oral arguments on the legal challenge on Sept. 16, raising the issue of TikTok’s future in the final weeks leading up to the presidential election on Nov. 5.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has opposed a TikTok ban and joined the platform in June. Vice President Kamala Harris, likely to be the Democratic nominee, recently joined TikTok as well.
The law prohibits app stores like Apple and Google from offering TikTok and restricts internet hosting services from supporting TikTok without divestment by ByteDance.
Congress swiftly passed the measure out of concern that China could access data on Americans or spy on them through the app.