ByteDance and its subsidiary company TikTok are urging a US court to overturn a law that would ban the popular app in the USA by 19 January. The new legal act, signed by President Biden in April, demands ByteDance divest TikTok's US assets or face a ban, which the company argues is impractical on technological, commercial, and legal grounds.

ByteDance contends that the law, driven by concerns over potential Chinese access to American data, violates free speech rights and unfairly targets TikTok while 'ignores many applications with substantial operations in China that collect large amounts of US user data, as well as the many US companies that develop software and employ engineers in China.' They argue that the legislation represents a substantial departure from the US tradition of supporting an open internet and sets a dangerous precedent.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hear oral arguments on this case on 16 September, a decision that could shape the future of TikTok in the US. ByteDance claims lengthy negotiations with the US government, which ended abruptly in August 2022, proposed various measures to protect US user data, including a 'kill switch' for the government to suspend TikTok if necessary. Additionally, the company made public a 100-plus page draft national security agreement to protect US TikTok user data and claims it has spent more than$2 billion on the effort. However, they believe the administration prefers to shut down the app rather than finalise a feasible agreement.

The Justice Department, defending the law, asserted that it addresses national security concerns appropriately. Moreover, the case follows a similar attempt by former President Trump to ban TikTok, which was blocked by the courts in 2020. This time, the new law would prohibit app stores and internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance divests it.