ByteDance Sues US Over TikTok Ban: Unconstitutional, Unfeasible, and Isolating

Last Tuesday, ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, filed a lawsuit against the United States in response to the country seeking to ban the platform. The Chinese-based company called the ban unconstitutional and stated that selling the platform is not possible, warning that it would lead to closure before January 19, 2025.

In a legal filing, TikTok argued that Congress had enacted a law for the first time in history that would permanently ban a single named speech platform and prohibit all Americans from participating in a global online community with millions of users worldwide. This lawsuit comes after President Joe Biden signed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to American companies to avoid the ban.

The ban on TikTok is due to security concerns about the platform’s data collection practices and the potential for misuse of information for the benefit of the Chinese government. TikTok has denied these accusations multiple times, stating that they are hypothetical without specific evidence to support them.

ByteDance explained in its lawsuit that selling TikTok to American companies is not feasible because it would require transferring millions of lines of code to the new owner and violate Chinese law by allowing the sale of an algorithm created by a Chinese company outside China’s borders. The company argued that such a move would create two separate experiences for US users compared to those worldwide, effectively isolating them from their global community.