Is the US banning TikTok? ByteDance appeals divest-or-ban bill

TikTok has entered court to share its argument against the US Government’s “unconstitutional” bill that requires them to either divest from ByteDance or face a ban in the country.

Over the last few years, the United States government has had several attempts to prevent TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, from having access to the data of US citizens due to data privacy concerns and its connection to the Chinese Communist Party.

The most recent move involves a bill that forces ByteDance to sell off its US operations within nine months from April 24, 2024, or face a ‘ban’ in the country. Here’s everything we know.

Is TikTok getting banned in the USA?

At the time of writing, the government in the United States of America has not announced a ban on TikTok in the country – but has passed a law that requires its parent company to sell off its US operations.

On April 24, 2024, President Joe Biden signed a bill that requires ByteDance to divest its US TikTok operations, selling it to a non-adversarial company. If they have a pending sale when that nine-month timer runs out, the US will provide ByteDance with a three-month extension.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew quickly issued a statement after Biden signed the bill into law, further revealing that they plan on fighting the decision in the courts immediately.

“Make no mistake, this is a ban. A ban on TikTok, a ban on you, and a ban on your voice,” he said. “Many who sponsored the bill admit a TikTok ban is their ultimate goal.”

“Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere. We are confident, and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts.”

TikTok fights against divest-or-ban bill

Shortly after President Biden signed the bill forcing ByteDance to divest the short-form video platform, the company filed a lawsuit fighting against it.

They slammed the bill as “unconstitutional” in the filing that was revealed through a TikTok blog post.

“Congress has taken the unprecedented step of expressly singling out and banning TikTok: a vibrant online forum for protected speech and expression used by 170 million Americans to create, share,
and view videos over the Internet,” they said.

“That law — the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the “Act”) — is unconstitutional.”

Although the lawsuit was filed in May, TikTok didn’t enter the court until September 16, 2024, when they began to share their arguments against the bill.

Both sides have asked the judge to issue a ruling before December 6, 2024, just over a month before the potential ban date.

We will update this article as further developments become known.