The company has challenged the constitutionality of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, 2023, which was sanctioned by US President Joe Biden on April 24.
The ban has been initiated on the belief that the Chinese government can access the data of Americans or spy on them through the app. The Act prohibits app stores from offering TikTok and bars internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance divests its shares in the company by January 19, 2025.
“The “qualified divestiture” demanded by the Act to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally. And certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the Act. Petitioners have repeatedly explained this to the U.S. government, and sponsors of the Act were aware that divestment is not possible. There is no question: the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere,” the plea stated.
Source: Barandbench
