TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance are suing the US federal government to challenge a law that would force either the sale of ByteDance's stake in the platform or an outright ban of the app, per the AP. The lawsuit filed on Tuesday may be setting up what could be a protracted legal fight over its future in the United States. The social video company called the law, which President Biden signed as part of a larger $95 billion foreign aid package, "obviously unconstitutional."
The law requires TikTok's parent, ByteDance, to sell the platform within nine months. If a sale is already in progress, the company will get another three months to complete the deal. ByteDance has said it "doesn't have any plan to sell TikTok." But even it wanted to divest, the company would have to get a blessing from Beijing, which previously opposed a forced sale of the platform and has signaled its opposition this time around.
US lawmakers from both parties, as well as administration and law enforcement officials, have expressed concerns that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over US user data or sway public opinion by manipulating the algorithm that populates users' feeds. Some have also pointed to a Rutgers University study that maintains TikTok content was being amplified or underrepresented based on how it aligns with the interests of the Chinese government, which the company disputes.
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