Court Hears Challenge to US TikTok Law

story

Sep 16, 2024

Image copyright: Michael M. Santiago/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Imagesstory last updated Sep 17

The Facts

TikTok on Monday argued its case to the three-judge panel that makes up the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in an attempt to overturn a law that would force the app's parent company, ByteDance, to sell to a non-Chinese entity or be banned in the US on Jan. 19.
Pres. Joe Biden signed the law in April, as a bipartisan swath of lawmakers passed it over national security concerns related to Americans' data and potential sway over TikTok by the Chinese government.

The Spin

Establishment-critical narrative

This is a bad law in search of a problem to regulate. TikTok doesn't coordinate anything with the Chinese government. If the courts don't stop this law, the US government will be disrupting an uncountable number of marketing and retail businesses — in addition to violating millions of citizens' rights to free speech — just to look tough on China, which is doing nothing wrong.

Guardian

Pro-establishment narrative

This law must stand. Even if the Chinese government hasn't exerted control over ByteDance or TikTok, the fact is these companies aren't beholden to any shareholders but are to the Communist Party of China — and that's why there's risk to American users. Two recent studies show how the app is biased toward China's point of view and is integrated in China's propaganda apparatus.