In response to the House bill passed on March 13, which requires parent company ByteDance to find a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok in nine months, the company filed a petition on May 7 in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, suing the U.S. government. On May 14, eight TikTok users, all with millions of followers on the social media app, filed a separate lawsuit to stop the ban.
ByteDance argues that the ban is unconstitutional and unjustly targets a Chinese company. The Congressional supporters of the bill are attempting to reframe it as a mere call for a sale of TikTok, not a ban. Their feeble arguments are meant to divert attention from the fact that the TikTok ban, a deliberate political and financial attack against China, is indeed a violation of the First Amendment.
The U.S. ruling class is undoubtedly seeking to escalate its hybrid war on China through such ridiculous and dubious means, with completely unfounded allegations that the Communist Party of China is using the social media app to spy on users in the United States.
Due to the unconstitutionality of the bill and the false choice of selling TikTok that Congress places ByteDance in, the company has decided to fight on legal grounds. The decision in this case will likely have a huge impact on TikTok’s future status in the U.S. If the courts rule in favor of Congress, TikTok may have to cease operations in the country, as finding a buyer is already difficult, and ByteDance claims it does not desire to sell the app.
It is likely then that TikTok will soon become the latest casualty in the U.S. imperialist aggression campaign against China.