SELL YOUR APP or be banned from the US market.

That is the choice at the centre of a lawsuit between TikTok and the United States that the Department of Justice has just urged a judge to quash.

In April, the US House of Congress set the nine-month deadline, on national security grounds, for the owner of TikTok, ByteDance, to divest from the app after politicians alleged that it can be used by the Chinese government for espionage and propaganda.

TikTok’s case argues that the law violates First Amendment rights of free speech but, late last night, Department shot down the argument and countered that the law addressed national security concerns first, not speech.

The filing details concerns that ByteDance could, and would, comply with Chinese government demands for data about US users or yield to pressure to censor or promote content on the platform, senior justice department officials said in a briefing.

“The goal of this law is to ensure that young people, old people and everyone in between is able to use the platform in a safe manner,” a senior justice department official said.

“And to use it in a way confident that their data is not ultimately going back to the Chinese government and what they’re watching is not being directed by or censored by the Chinese government.”

The response argues that the law’s focus on foreign ownership of TikTok takes it out of the realm of the First Amendment.

US intelligence agencies are concerned that China can “weaponize” mobile apps, justice department officials said.

A senior justice department official said it was “clear” that the Chinese Government has been pursuing large, structured datasets of Americans – including efforts to procure the information from third-party data brokers – to build AI models.

TikTok has said the demanded divestiture is “simply not possible” – and not on the timeline required. Under the law, ByteDance must fully divest from the app or leave the US market all together.

The White House can extend the deadline by 90 days, but if ByteDance refuse to comply the US Government can ban the app themselves.

“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide,” said the suit by TikTok and ByteDance.

The Department of Justice, in classified filings, has asked the court to throw out the case.

- © AFP 2024, additional reporting by Muiris O’Cearbhaill