TikTok asks to revoke the law that requires ByteDance to sell it

TikTok told a federal appeals court on Thursday that the U.S. Justice Department has misrepresented the social media app’s ties to China, urging the court to overturn a law that requires China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. assets or face a ban.

TikTok, which has sued to overturn the law, said the Justice Department made factual errors in the case. Department lawyers charged last month that the app poses a national security risk by allowing the Chinese government to collect data on Americans and covertly manipulate the content they view.

On Thursday, TikTok explained that there is no dispute that the app’s content recommendation engine and user data are stored in the United States on cloud servers operated by Oracle and that content moderation decisions affecting American users are made in the United States.

The law, signed by President Joe Biden on April 24, gives ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell TikTok or face a ban. The White House says it wants an end to Chinese ownership on national security grounds, but not a ban on TikTok.

The appeals court is set to hold oral arguments on the legal challenge on Sept. 16, putting the question of TikTok’s fate in the final weeks of the Nov. 5 presidential election.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has joined TikTok and said in June that he would never support a TikTok ban.

Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democratic presidential candidate, joined TikTok in July, turning to social media as part of her campaign strategy.

TikTok argued Thursday that the law would strip the company of its free speech rights, contradicting the Justice Department’s claim that the short-form video app’s content curation decisions are “the speech of a foreigner” and not protected by the U.S. Constitution.

“According to the government’s logic, an American newspaper that republishes the content of a foreign publication – Reuters, for example – would lack constitutional protection,” the company said.

The law bars app stores like Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google from offering TikTok and internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance divests from it.

Fueled by concerns among U.S. lawmakers that China could access or spy on Americans through the app, Congress overwhelmingly approved the measure just weeks after it was introduced.