TikTok's Future Hangs In Balance As Judges Express Skepticism In US Court Battle
ByeDance-owned TikTok, the widely-used social media platform for creating and sharing short-form videos, has encountered a doubtful panel of judges.
What Happened: TikTok and a group of creators are contesting a law, often referred to as “the TikTok ban,” in front of a three-judge panel at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
During oral arguments on Monday, the judges, Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, Judge Neomi Rao, and Judge Douglas Ginsburg, seemed to scrutinize TikTok’s counsel more rigorously than the U.S. Department of Justice, reported The Verge.
The law mandates TikTok to separate from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by Jan. 19. TikTok contends that this ban would stifle its creators and limit the information accessible to Americans.
DOJ upheld the law, asserting it as a necessary step against a company seen as a national security threat due to its alleged connections to a foreign government.
The judges questioned the feasibility of asking TikTok to implement lesser measures, like disclosing its data and content moderation practices.
As Rao and Srinivasan noted, this approach would rely on trusting a company the government suspects of being controlled by a foreign adversary, the report noted.
At the end of TikTok’s argument, Ginsburg disputed the social media giant’s counsel Andrew Pincus’ claim that the law targets the company.
The judge explained that it applies to foreign-controlled firms and highlighted one facing urgent action after years of stalled negotiations.
The judges also raised doubts about whether creators genuinely have a First Amendment stake in TikTok’s ownership.
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Why It Matters: Earlier in June, TikTok argued that the U.S. could have considered alternatives to banning the app to address national security concerns.
TikTok’s lawyers stated that the company had negotiated a 90-page national security agreement with the US government offering “multi-layered safeguards and enforcement mechanisms,” which Congress disregarded when enacting the TikTok ban.
Last week, it was reported that TikTok is strengthening its relationship with Amazon.com Inc. sparking rumors of a potential acquisition.
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance previously said that it would not be seeking a buyer for the social media giant.
In a court filing, TikTok also said, “The Chinese government has made clear that it would not permit a divestment of the recommendation engine that is a key to the success of TikTok in the United States.”
Photo by XanderSt on Shutterstock
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