Legal battle over potential TikTok ban goes before federal appeals court

Washington — A long-brewing legal standoff over the popular video-sharing app TikTok gets underway on Monday, with arguments in the challenge against a possible ban kicking off. 

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have been under fire by U.S. officials for years over warnings that China’s government could gain access to users’ data and use it to manipulate or spy on Americans. But a renewed push against the app gained momentum in Congress earlier this year, as lawmakers approved a foreign aid package that included provisions requiring it to be sold or be banned from U.S. app stores. President Biden signed the legislation into law in April, teeing up a countdown for TikTok’s sale.

TikTok and ByteDance filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department in May over the law, arguing that it violates First Amendment rights of users, among other claims. With the petition, the parties asked the court to block enforcement of the legislation, which they said would force a shutdown of the app by early next year, arguing that the sale of the app is untenable before then. 

Given the timeline, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit fast-tracked oral arguments. The parties are appearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Monday, where TikTok will ask for a preliminary injunction against the law.

The video-sharing app will argue that Congress passed the law “hastily” under a “closed-door” legislative process, multiple sources told CBS News, while making the case that it’s the government’s burden, not TikTok’s, to prove that the speech restrictions further a compelling interest — and are tailored to achieve the interest. It will also argue that there’s “no information” that China has manipulated information Americans receive on TikTok. 

TikTok has argued that the potential ban would be a “radical departure” from the U.S. supporting an open internet, while setting a “dangerous precedent.” Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers and security experts stress that the Chinese government could tap TikTok’s trove of personal data from millions of U.S. users.

In a July filing, the Justice Department outlined that the concern “is grounded in the actions ByteDance and TikTok have already taken overseas, and in the PRC’s malign activities in the United States that, while not reliant on ByteDance and TikTok to date, demonstrate its capability and intent to engage in malign foreign influence and theft of sensitive data.”

On Monday, TikTok and the Justice Department will each get 25 minutes to present their case.