DOJ Pushes for TikTok Sale Amid National Security Concerns

According to Reuters, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) late Friday urged a federal appeals court to uphold a law mandating China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. assets by January 19, or face a potential ban. The DOJ’s argument hinges on concerns that TikTok, under Chinese ownership, poses a significant national security threat due to its access to extensive personal data of American users. The department asserted that China could exploit this access to covertly manipulate the information Americans see on the app. “The serious national-security threat posed by TikTok is real,” the DOJ stated in its filing, citing risks related to data collection and covert content manipulation.

Per Reuters, the Biden administration has requested the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to dismiss legal challenges from TikTok, its parent company ByteDance, and a collective of TikTok creators aiming to block the law. This legislation, signed into law by President Joe Biden on April 24, could result in a ban on the app used by approximately 170 million Americans if ByteDance does not comply. TikTok has consistently denied allegations of sharing U.S. user data with China or manipulating video results. In response to the DOJ brief, TikTok criticized the government for failing to provide concrete evidence of its claims, stating, “The government has never put forth proof of its claims, including when Congress passed this unconstitutional law.”

The DOJ’s filing outlines extensive national security concerns regarding ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok. The department highlighted China’s long-term strategy of positioning assets that could be leveraged in geopolitical maneuvers. Despite acknowledging a lack of evidence that the Chinese government has accessed U.S. TikTok user data, the DOJ maintains that the potential risk is too high to ignore.

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The government also submitted a classified document to the court, detailing additional security concerns about ByteDance’s ownership and broader issues highlighted by the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the DOJ’s National Security Division. ByteDance has argued that TikTok’s source code, consisting of 2 billion lines, is too extensive for a comprehensive review. Oracle estimated that it would take three years to examine the entire codebase, excluding future modifications, according to the DOJ.

The DOJ dismissed TikTok’s arguments, including claims that the law infringes on First Amendment rights, asserting that the law addresses national security issues rather than free speech. The department noted that U.S. users have access to numerous other platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and X as alternatives.

Furthermore, the DOJ criticized TikTok’s $2 billion plan to safeguard U.S. user data as insufficient, citing a lack of trust in ByteDance and the government’s doubts about the company’s ability to enforce compliance effectively. The appeals court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on September 16, bringing the issue of TikTok’s future into the critical weeks leading up to the November 5 presidential election.

Source: Reuters