TikTok sues to block new forced divestment law, claiming First Amendment violation

Video-sharing platform TikTok is suing the United States government, claiming a new law that forces its divestment from its Chinese owners violates the First Amendment.

It was expected that TikTok would challenge the law in court, and on Tuesday, the company filed a lawsuit with a federal appeals court in Washington.

President Joe Biden recently signed into law a bill, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, that would ban the platform if Chinese tech firm ByteDance fails to divest from the popular short video app over the next nine months to a year. The company, though, alleges that the order violates the constitutional right to free speech.

“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban,” TikTok representatives said in the lawsuit, “and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide.”