The Biden administration’s new law forcing the sale or ban of TikTok is the unconstitutional result of “political demagoguery” and should be overturned, TikTok attorneys said in a court brief Thursday marking the start of one of the most consequential legal battles in American internet history.demanding TikTok’s China-based owner, ByteDance, sell its U.S. operations by Jan. 19 or face a nationwide ban would violate Americans’ First Amendment right to free expression.
The Biden administration declined the offer, arguing that it was insufficient to neutralize their concerns but without detailing why. In First Amendment cases, judges have traditionally called for the government to pursue its goals with the “least restrictive” impact on Americans’ speech.The high-profile Washington brawl could have a dramatic impact on the future of online speech. Upholding the law could decimate anfor news and entertainment used by 170 million nationwide.
While the company had stayed silent to protect the negotiation’s confidentiality agreements, the attorneys argued, it had been repeatedly undercut by “problematic and damaging” comments from administration officials and leaks to the media. “Congress itself laid down a generally applicable standard and process” and denied TikTok “alone the protections … for no reason it saw fit to share,” the brief said. “That is a powerful indication that punishing was the point.”In its brief, TikTok argues that a sale would be financially and technically impossible within the government’s one-year deadline and would basically guarantee a ban.
Alongside its brief, TikTok filed hundreds of pages of supporting documents, including declarations from TikTok-retained experts who argued on the company’s behalf.