TikTok Battles for Its Existence in Court

The video-sharing app is fighting for its right to exist against a potential federal ban.

Depending on the results of the court case, TikTok will either have to sell to a non-Chinese company or be banned in the U.S. Photo by Focal Foto on Flickr

TikTok’s struggle to stay in the U.S. continued in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 16. The federal hearing will determine whether the app will have to be sold to a non-Chinese company or be federally banned by Jan. 19 of next year. 

President Joe Biden signed the potential ban into law in April based on concerns related to national security with TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance. The government claims that the extensive information of the nearly 170 million U.S. users gathered by the video-sharing app creates a threat if accessed by the Chinese government. 

In May, TikTok and ByteDance filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department to attempt to block the law’s enforcement. The companies argued the law violates the First Amendment by limiting the free speech of American users. Additionally, they insisted the short window to sell is unrealistic, especially with China potentially blocking the sale.

The case raises questions about the extent of free speech on social media and foreign relations. TikTok has a headquarters in the U.S. and claims American data is stored at Oracle servers in the country. TikTok also argues that the law unfairly targets TikTok, while other social media sites gather similar information. 

“To me, it doesn't seem fair, because all the other social media companies do the exact same thing and almost to more of an intense scale, but nobody's coming after them for that. It's specifically TikTok,” Gabby Ganoe ‘26 said. 

There has been sparse public evidence presented, proving that China’s government is interfering with TikTok. However, in June, a former ByteDance employee sued the company and claimed the Chinese government used TikTok’s data for political purposes in 2018. ByteDance has denied these claims.

According to the New York Times, the lawyers have requested that the decision be made by Dec. 6. The decision will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court, regardless of who wins the case, and the original deadline for the sale will likely be pushed back due to the cases.

If the courts fall in the law’s favor, the U.S. wouldn’t be the first country to have TikTok banned. India banned the app in June 2020, and the app is also blocked in Nepal, Iran, Afghanistan and Somalia. 

Despite the uncertainty, users are hoping for a compromise between TikTok and the U.S. government to keep the app in the country.

“I hope that some kind of agreement can come to, but I don't know. They seem very eager to ban it,” Ganoe said.