US Lawmakers and States Rally Behind DOJ in TikTok Privacy Lawsuit

A group of 21 states and more than 50 U.S. lawmakers supported the Justice Department on Friday in defending a law requiring China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. assets by January 19 or face a ban. The court filing, led by the state attorneys general of Montana and Virginia, claimed that TikTok poses a threat to national security and consumer privacy. They argued that allowing TikTok to operate in the U.S. without severing its ties to the Chinese Communist Party exposes Americans to the risk of data exploitation.

A group of lawmakers, led by U.S. Representative John Moolenaar and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, stated that the law provides a clear path for companies to resolve national security threats posed by their current ownership structures. TikTok and ByteDance, along with a group of TikTok creators, have filed suits to block the law that could ban the app used by 170 million Americans. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is set to hold oral arguments on September 16, placing the fate of TikTok in the spotlight during the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election.

The congressional filing was signed by several prominent lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senators Marco Rubio and Frank Pallone. They emphasized that Congress acted to protect national security rather than to punish ByteDance.

TikTok responded, arguing that the filings ignore the fact that Congress passed the TikTok ban without supporting evidence and that the ban would violate the First Amendment rights of 170 million American users. The measure, driven by concerns that China could access or spy on Americans through the app, was passed overwhelmingly in Congress in April.

Last week, the Justice Department asked a U.S. appeals court to reject legal challenges to the law, asserting that the national security threat posed by TikTok is real.