TikTok Faces Tough Questions from Court over Challenge to US Law

A view of the E. Barrett Prettyman US Court House in Washington, DC on September 16, 2024. (AFP)
A view of the E. Barrett Prettyman US Court House in Washington, DC on September 16, 2024. (AFP)
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TikTok Faces Tough Questions from Court over Challenge to US Law

A view of the E. Barrett Prettyman US Court House in Washington, DC on September 16, 2024. (AFP)
A view of the E. Barrett Prettyman US Court House in Washington, DC on September 16, 2024. (AFP)

A lawyer for TikTok and Chinese parent company ByteDance faced tough questions on Monday as a US appeals court heard arguments in their lawsuit seeking to block a law that could ban the short video app used by 170 million Americans as soon as Jan. 19.

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia began hearing arguments in the suit filed by TikTok and ByteDance in May seeking an injunction barring the law from taking effect.

The judges questioned TikTok's outside lawyer Andrew Pincus, who argued that the US government had not demonstrated that TikTok poses national security risks and that the law violates the US Constitution on a number of grounds including running afoul of First Amendment free speech protections.

"The law before this court is unprecedented, and its effect would be staggering," Pincus told the judges, saying "for the first time in history, Congress has expressly targeted a specific US speaker, banning its speech and the speech of 170 million Americans."

The law gives ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell or divest TikTok's US assets or face a ban in the United States. Driven by worries among American lawmakers that China could access data on Americans or spy on them with the app, the US Congress passed the measure with overwhelming support and President Joe Biden signed it into law in April.

The law prohibits app stores like Apple and Alphabet's Google from offering TikTok and bars internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance divests TikTok by the deadline. Under the law, Biden could extend the deadline by three months if he certifies ByteDance is making significant progress toward a sale.

Judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao and Douglas Ginsburg were hearing the arguments.

The case is playing out during the final weeks of the US presidential campaign. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival, are active on TikTok, seeking to court younger voters.

The Justice Department has said TikTok, under Chinese ownership, poses a serious national security threat because of its access to vast amounts of personal data on Americans, asserting China can covertly manipulate information that Americans consume via TikTok.

ByteDance has said divestiture is "not possible technologically, commercially or legally."

TikTok and the Justice Department have asked for a ruling by Dec. 6, which could allow the US Supreme Court to consider any appeal before a ban takes effect.

The White House has said it wants to see Chinese-based ownership ended on national security grounds, but not a ban on TikTok. Trump, who unsuccessfully tried to ban TikTok in 2020, has said if elected in November he would not allow TikTok to be banned.



EU Says Trump Arrival Will Not Impact Big Tech Cases

The logos of mobile apps, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Netflix, are displayed on a screen in this illustration picture taken December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo
The logos of mobile apps, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Netflix, are displayed on a screen in this illustration picture taken December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo
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EU Says Trump Arrival Will Not Impact Big Tech Cases

The logos of mobile apps, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Netflix, are displayed on a screen in this illustration picture taken December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo
The logos of mobile apps, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Netflix, are displayed on a screen in this illustration picture taken December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

The European Commission said on Tuesday it was assessing its cases against Apple, Google and Meta and that President-elect Donald Trump's impending arrival in the White House did not affect its commitment to enforcing its laws on big tech.

The European Commission has carried out a series of investigations into US tech firms under its Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, which seek to make large platforms adhere to market rules and act against illegal content, according to Reuters.

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg said Europe was "institutionalizing censorship".

"We have been very clear that no matter which administration is in place in third countries, this will not affect our enforcement work," a Commission spokesperson told the EU's executive's daily briefing.

The Financial Times reported that the European Commission was reassessing its investigations of Apple, Meta and Google in a review that could lead it to scale back or change its investigations that could lead to fines as US groups urge Trump to intervene.

The Commission denied it was carrying out a review.

"What we do have is upcoming meetings to assess maturity of cases, to assess the allocation of resources and the general readiness of the investigation," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that the cases were still being handled at a technical level and so not reached a point at which decisions could be taken.

"Obviously there may be a political reality which puts pressure on the technical work, but we need to distinguish the two stages because we need to have a court-proof investigation," another spokesperson said.