TikTok is challenging a possible ban in the US in court

ANP Productions | Source: ANP

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TikTok will file suit in an American court against the law that leads to a possible ban of the popular video app in the United States, a spokesperson said. The Senate approved an aid package for Ukraine on Tuesday. The measures against TikTok are part of that package.

The law states, among other things, that ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, must sell its American parts. If ByteDance doesn’t do this, TikTok could be banned in the US. The law is intended to prevent China from using the social media app for propaganda and from abusing data from American users. TikTok has 170 million users in the US. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the package on Wednesday.

TikTok “fundamentally disagrees” with the law, the spokesperson said. According to him, former President Donald Trump previously tried to ban TikTok, but a court blocked this. “The only route we see is to go to court and challenge it there,” he says.

Completely unproven

According to the spokesperson, the fact that TikTok is a channel for Chinese propaganda is “completely unproven”. Users post the videos, not TikTok or governments, he says. The spokesperson states that the video app keeps users’ data as safe as possible.

The video app does not want to sell the American components, the spokesperson reports. According to him, this is only a possibility if going to court does not lead to the possible ban being scrapped. TikTok, with its American headquarters in Los Angeles, will file the charges shortly, he said. He said it is not yet known when the lawsuit will be heard.