TikTok owner ByteDance files lawsuit against US law forcing app’s sale
Al Jazeera
In April, President Joe Biden signed a law giving ByteDance nine months to sell its US operations over security concerns.
ByteDance, the owner of the social media platform TikTok, has filed a lawsuit against the United States government in an effort to block a law that would force it to divest from its US assets.
On Tuesday, lawyers for ByteDance filed the complaint in the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, arguing the law was “obviously unconstitutional”.
President Joe Biden signed the law less than two weeks ago, on April 24, as part of a package that included foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel, as well as humanitarian relief for Gaza.
Under the law, ByteDance has nine months to sell off its US-based operations. Its deadline is January 19, with an additional three-month extension possible should a sale be in progress.
But in its suit, ByteDance argues divestment will not be possible within the timeframe allotted — “not commercially, not technologically, not legally”.
