WASHINGTON, D.C. — The debate over a U.S. ban on TikTok, which would remove the app from American app stores, commenced this Monday in a federal appeals court. The social media giant and its parent company ByteDance are challenging the ban as a breach of Constitutional freedoms.
According to the Philippines News Agency, TikTok argued before a three-judge panel at the US Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C. Circuit that the prohibition infringes on the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech and expression. The move to ban the app follows longstanding Congressional worries about ByteDance, a China-based firm, potentially compiling and exploiting American users’ data, considering the tense U.S.-China relations.
U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed concerns that Chinese authorities could access and manipulate data from millions of American TikTok users. Legislation demanding TikTok’s sale or its removal from app stores by January was signed into law by President Joe Biden in April after receiving broad support from lawmakers.
During the court proceedings, TikTok’s legal representative, Andrew Pincus, contested the necessity and justification of the ban, labeling it a “radical departure” from America’s tradition of supporting a free internet and a potential “dangerous precedent” for selective censorship. Pincus highlighted the implications for free speech, affecting some 170 million U.S. users, and argued that TikTok was unfairly targeted due to its foreign ownership.
The Justice Department, representing the U.S. government, countered that the ban is crucial not to censor content but to safeguard Americans from potential manipulations and extensive data collection by a foreign adversary. “The data is extremely valuable to a foreign adversary trying to compromise the security of the United States,” stated Daniel Tenny, the attorney for the government.
A decision from the court is anticipated in December, providing a window for further appeals, including a potential escalation to the Supreme Court, before the January 19 deadline for TikTok’s ban or forced sale.