They weren’t empty threats. TikTok is taking the US government to court

The TikTok ban has been a big topic in the US for the past few months. American lawmakers fear that TikTok could provide the data of American users to the Chinese government.

This was the main reason why a new law was passed at the end of April, which essentially allows TikTok to be banned. However, this one is not only aimed at the well-known video player app, it is called “21st Century Peace Through Strength Act”. Thanks to it, the US president will get the opportunity to adopt extensive sanctions against Iran and Russian officials, or allow the government to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.

“It’s unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using major foreign aid legislation as a cover to push through a bill that would trample on the free speech of 170 million Americans,” TikTok chief Shou Zi Chew fumed before Biden signed the bill.

Half of Americans agree to ban TikTok

Software

The nine-month deadline is already running

With Biden’s signature, the nine-month period during which ByteDance must sell the TikTok network began to run. The time is therefore until January 2025. If the representatives of this Chinese giant had not done so, the application databases operated by Apple or Google would not be able to provide TikTok in the US.

However, ByteDance claims the new law violates the US Constitution, according to Reuters. And that’s why this week the Chinese company’s lawyers challenged him in an American court. According to them, the requested sale of the network “is not possible from a commercial, technological or legal point of view”.

In addition, the transaction would have to be sanctioned by Beijing, which has long rejected the forced sale of the Chinese network. In addition, the BBC server pointed out that a similar ban on TikTok was already attempted in 2020 by the administration of former US President Donald Trump. Unsuccessfully – American courts blocked his efforts.

The current trial is expected to drag on for several years. ByteDance representatives have already made it known that if they were unsuccessful in court in the US, they would rather stop offering TikTok in America.

In Montana, a court intervened

Legislators in Montana tried to ban TikTok last year. Over the summer, they voted to ban the Chinese social network TikTok nationwide — not just for officials, but for all users.

Montana was thus supposed to become the first US state to proceed with such strict repression due to concerns about the security of user data. But the lawmakers’ plans ran into trouble in court. In December, the federal district court in Missoula preliminarily ruled that “the ban could violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution on freedom of speech.”

The process is still ongoing, but based on the court’s decision, the ban on the use of the app in Montana cannot be enforced yet, even though the legislators intended to do so since the beginning of this year.

The law supports our shared priority of protecting Montanans from the surveillance of the Chinese Communist Party

The approved law, which is not yet valid due to the court’s decision, was very strict. The legislation explicitly prohibits downloading the TikTok app in Montana and will fine any app stores or TikTok itself if they offer it in the state.

The fine was set at $10,000 (CZK 225,000) per day for each case in which the entity offered users access to this application, Reuters reported.

However, it should be noted that the fine does not apply to TikTok users themselves. If they somehow manage to get the app, no one will fine them. So the restrictions are aimed exclusively at app stores.

Last year, Gov. Greg Gianforte bragged that this law supports their “shared priority – protecting the people of Montana from the surveillance of the Chinese Communist Party.”