Last April, Joe Biden signed a bill that gave the Chinese company ByteDance 270 days to sell the American division of TikTok or risk having the platform banned in the USA.
The battle in court has begun. Arguments commenced today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. TikTok’s lawyers are arguing that they are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao, and Douglas Ginsburg will decide whether constitutional protections extend to a foreign-owned entity.
Judge Sri Srinivasan was born in India and appointed by Barack Obama. Judge Neomi Rao, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was appointed by Donald Trump. Ronald Reagan appointed Judge Douglas Ginsburg.
Because of the 270-day limit, the Judges have been asked to publish a decision by December 5th.
Critics of the so-called “TikTok ban” suggest there is no desire to actually ban the platform, only to increase censorship on it. They believe the new American owners will be under intense pressure to cooperate with the federal government and censor content that ByteDance does not currently censor.
ByteDance has vowed not to sell the software to a new owner. They say they will simply shut down the U.S. division or license only the name. They allege that most of their profit comes from other markets, and shutting down the American division of TikTok will not be a major financial loss.
TikTok and dozens of other Chinese apps are banned in India.
