An appeals court in Washington, D.C., has fast-tracked arguments over a new U.S. law that forces China’s ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said in an order issued on Tuesday (May 28) that oral arguments in the case will be heard in September.
Under the law signed by President Joe Biden in late April, ByteDance has until January 19, 2025, to sell TikTok, or at least convince the president that the process of selling TikTok is indeed underway or face effectively having a crackdown on the app ban. App stores, e.g. apple store and Google Play Providing TikTok will be prohibited, and website hosting services will be prohibited from working with the app.
According to a report by TikTok, the expedited hearing means it may not have to apply for an injunction to block enforcement of the law. Reuters.
Soon after Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act After the law took effect, TikTok and ByteDance filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming the law was unconstitutional.
“Congress took the unprecedented step of explicitly targeting and banning TikTok: a vibrant online forum designed to protect speech and expression that 170 million Americans use to create, share and watch videos on the Internet,” the complaint states. Complete here.
In late May, a group of well-known TikTok users had more than 11 millionalso filed a lawsuit against the United States.
“In supporting the bill, lawmakers claimed TikTok ‘manipulated[s]Americans think and spread “propaganda” that “exploits our nation’s free market to undermine our love of freedom. But it is this bill that undermines our country’s founding principles and the free market of ideas,” the petition states, the full text of which is available Read it here.
“The First Amendment to our Constitution prohibits Congress from censoring speech because of its content, opinion, editorial practices, or the identity of the speaker or publisher.”
The two lawsuits have been consolidated into one case by the D.C. Court of Appeals, which has sole jurisdiction over divestment or barring laws, as stated in the law itself.
The court has ordered TikTok and ByteDance, as well as TikTok users petitioning the court, to submit written representations by June 20.
Department of Justice – Defendant in this case, under the direction of the Attorney General Merrick Garland – Written briefs must be submitted by July 26. TikTok and creators have until August 15 to submit written responses to the brief.
TikTok has been targeted by U.S. lawmakers for years over concerns that ByteDance could share U.S. users’ personal information with the Chinese government — TikTok CEO claims, Shou Zi Chewrepeatedly denied.
There are also concerns that TikTok’s algorithm could manipulate American public opinion through the type of content it feeds users.
TikTok counters that banning the app would deprive 170 million U.S. users are violating their First Amendment rights by participating on the platform. It is said that around 7 million U.S. businesses rely on short video platforms, and it contributes $24 billion The impact of annual economic activity on the U.S. economy.
It also believes it does more than other social media platforms to protect user data and prevent algorithms from being manipulated.
“Through our U.S. data security efforts, we have established safeguards that no other company in our industry has taken,” Zhou said in a video released last month. “We have invested billions of dollars to protect your data and ensure our platform is protected from outside manipulation.”
TikTok has sometimes found itself at odds with the music industry, most notably earlier this year when universal music groupThe company’s recording and publishing catalog disappeared from the platform for several months after the two companies failed to reach a licensing agreement.
UMG argued that TikTok was trying to defraud its artists; TikTok countered that UMG’s “greed” was the reason behind the conflict.
Nonetheless, TikTok’s utility for artists as a music discovery and promotion platform became clear when UMG signed with TikTok last month. Taylor SwiftEven before TikTok and UMG reached a licensing agreement, music from TikTok began reappearing on the platform.
Earlier this month, TikTok launched a new “Fan Spotlight” feature for musicians, which allows artists to engage more deeply with their TikTok fan base by pinning fan videos to their music tags . This feature was rolled out with help from billie eilishanother UMG artist.global music business
