TikTok challenges potential US ban

TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance have filed a legal challenge against the US, taking aim at a law that would force the app to be sold or face a US ban.

TikTokhas sued the United States over attempts to force its Chinese parent company to sell the social media platform, citing the First Amendment of the American Constitution.

TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance filed a legal challenge against the United States on Tuesday, taking aim at a law that would force the app to be sold to another company or face a US ban.

The lawsuit could be instrumental in what could be a long legal fight over the wildly popular app’s future in the United States.

The move comes just weeks after US President Joe Biden signed a bill giving TikTok roughly nine months to find a non-Chinese buyer - but the video sharing platform argues that demand is unconstitutional.

TikTok supporters have been lobbying hard in Washington DC against the ban. Picture: AFP

It comes as TikTok warned it would launch a legal counter-attack to save the app.

The US government faces an uphill battle to follow through on the crackdown, given the courts previously rejected state and federal efforts to shut down TikTok in the US, including by former president Donald Trump in 2020.

Biden signed the law as part of a $US95 billion ($A146 billion) package that arms Ukraine and Israel and bolsters the AUKUS pact.

ByteDance stated: “We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail,” the company said in a statement.

“The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep US data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation. This ban would devastate seven million businesses and silence 170 million Americans.”

In a brief speech about the legislation, Biden did not mention the TikTok provision, which was passed with bipartisan support in Congress amid national security concerns.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gives a thumbs-up after the Senate passed a foreign aid bill at the US Capitol. Picture: Getty Images

The law requires ByteDance – the Chinese company that owns the app – to sell it within nine months, with the President able to extend that for another three months if a sale is in the works. If ByteDance fails to offload TikTok, the app will be banned in the US next year.

While the Chinese government was yet to respond, it had previously criticised the planned law and said it would firmly oppose the sale of the app.

TikTok is used by one in two Americans, although it has been embroiled in controversy over the app’s staff using it to spy on journalists, its algorithm that appears to censor content deemed sensitive by the Chinese government, and its impact on the mental health of young users.

House Speaker Mike Johnson stared down internal Republican opposition to the sweeping package. Picture: AFP

Biden said the overall package – headlined by $US60bn ($A92bn) for Ukraine – marked “a good day for world peace”.

“In the next few hours … we’re going to begin sending equipment to Ukraine for air defence munitions, for artillery, for rocket systems and armed vehicles,” the US President said.

“This package is literally an investment not only in Ukraine’s security, but in Europe’s security and our own security.”

“We don’t let tyrants win, we oppose them. We don’t merely watch global events unfold, we shape them … That’s what it means to be the world’s superpower and the world’s leading democracy.”

The legislation allows Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets and provide the money to Kyiv to finance reconstruction, a move that has been embraced by other G7 nations.

It also includes $US26bn ($A40bn) linked to the war that was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 invasion of Israel, including $US13bn ($A20bn) in security assistance and $US9bn ($A14bn) for humanitarian aid.

The US has been the chief military backer of Ukraine in its war against Russia but Congress had not approved large-scale funding for its ally for nearly a year and a half.

“Finally, finally, finally, tonight after more than six months of hard work, and many twists and turns in the road, America sends a message to the entire world: we will not turn our back on you,” Democrat Senate leader Chuck Schumer said before the bill passed.

The legislation includes crucial funding to speed up production of the US Navy’s Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine. Picture: Supplied

His Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell hailed the vote as “an extremely important day in the history of our country and of the free world.”

The US House of Representatives approved the landmark legislation on Saturday (local time) after months of Republican infighting that left Ukrainian soldiers without enough ammunition and could still cost House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson his job.

Hard-right Republicans threatened to oust Mr Johnson if he backed the Ukraine military aid package but he refused to buckle.

The package also included $US3.3bn ($A5bn) to fast-track nuclear submarine production, an investment that was demanded by the Republicans last year in exchange for their support for laws allowing the sale of nuclear-powered vessels to Australia under the AUKUS deal.

Democrat congressman Joe Courtney, the co-chair of the congressional AUKUS caucus, previously said the spending matched Australia’s investment in America’s submarine industrial base and would “turbocharge AUKUS”.

Originally published as TikTok challenges potential US ban