Justice Department Advocates for TikTok Sale Over National Security Risks

Justice Department Pushes for TikTok Sale Amid National Security Concerns

The U.S. Justice Department has taken a firm stance regarding TikTok, advocating in a recent court filing for the social media platform to divest its American operations. This move stems from growing national security worries linked to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

In its first comprehensive response to TikTok’s lawsuit, which challenges a newly enacted U.S. law that could potentially lead to a ban on the app, the Justice Department asserted that the measures previously proposed by TikTok to alleviate these security concerns were inadequate. These measures included plans to localize U.S. user data and keep it within domestic borders. However, the government contended that such steps would not fully mitigate the risks, as the Chinese government might still extract sensitive information from American users or manipulate the content on the platform.

The Justice Department emphasized that there is a credible incentive for China to misuse TikTok due to its broader geopolitical ambitions. In a largely redacted section of a statement submitted alongside the main filing, Casey Blackburn, an assistant director of national intelligence, indicated that TikTok and ByteDance have already acted in response to directives from the Chinese government to censor content beyond its borders.

National Security Threat

“Given TikTok’s extensive reach within the United States, the potential for China to exploit the app’s functionalities to fulfill its overarching aim of undermining American interests poses a national security threat of significant magnitude,” the government articulated in its submission to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Under existing legislation, any legal challenges to this matter must commence in that specific court.

If the government successfully argues its case, it could compel the sale of TikTok or impose a ban on the application in the United States under a landmark law signed by President Biden in April. Should ByteDance fail to divest TikTok’s American operations to a non-Chinese entity by mid-January, app stores and web hosting services would be mandated to cease operations with TikTok, creating a dual-layered strategy to effectively sever the platform’s presence in the U.S. market.

TikTok, which boasts approximately 170 million users in the United States, initiated a lawsuit in May to contest the law. The company has argued that a sale is not feasible and that a ban would adversely impact small businesses that rely on the platform for their operations. Furthermore, TikTok has asserted that it has made extraordinary commitments to the U.S. government to alleviate security concerns, including offering an American firm oversight of its algorithm and ensuring that all user data is stored domestically.

The ongoing legal battle over TikTok is anticipated to escalate, potentially culminating in a review by the Supreme Court.