Appeals court hears arguments over potential TikTok ban in United States

TikTok and parent company ByteDance argue that a potential ban would violate the right to free expression for US users.

Lawyers for the social media app TikTok and parent company ByteDance are squaring off in court with the United States Justice Department over a potential ban that the companies say would violate US freedom of speech laws.

On Monday, a three-judge federal US Court of Appeals panel in Washington, DC began hearing oral arguments from both sides.

The video-sharing app used by 170 million people in the US has argued a ban would be a “radical departure from this country’s tradition of championing an open Internet“, while the Justice Department has said the app poses a “serious national-security threat”.

In April, the US Congress overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill requiring ByteDance to divest its US TikTok assets by January 19 or face a national ban, driven by concerns that the Chinese government could use TikTok to spy on people in the US or access their data.

The company has denounced those concerns as baseless, stating that it has never been asked to share US user data with the Chinese government. ByteDance is seeking an injunction barring the law from taking effect.

“Even if divestiture were feasible, TikTok in the United States would still be reduced to a shell of its former self, stripped of the innovative and expressive technology that tailors content to each user,” the company stated in a June legal brief. “It would also become an island, preventing Americans from exchanging views with the global TikTok community.”

A survey of US adults by the Pew Research Center in July and August found declining support for banning the app, with 32 percent in favour, 28 percent opposed, and 39 percent unsure. Most respondents also expressed scepticism that a ban would take effect.

A December 2023 survey by Pew also found stronger opposition to a ban among young people, with only 18 percent of US teenagers saying they were in favour of banning the app.

Both TikTok and the Justice Department have asked for a decision by December 6, enough time for the US Supreme Court to consider an appeal before the law takes effect.

The administration of President Joe Biden has said it would prefer ownership by a non-Chinese company to an outright ban, while former President Donald Trump has said that he would not support a ban if he wins re-election in November.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies