The US Department Of Justice And TikTok Are Proposing A Fast Schedule For Lawsuits On The Prohibition Of Divestment

The US Department of Justice and TikTok submitted a request to the US appeals court (photo: x @AzuraCreutz)

JAKARTA - The US Department of Justice and TikTok on Friday 17 May filed a request to the US appeals court to set a quick schedule in considering legal challenges against a new law requiring Chinese company ByteDance to release TikTok assets in the US on 19 January or face bans.

TikTok, ByteDance, and a group of TikTok content creators joined the Department of Justice in requesting the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to decide on December 6 so they could seek review from the Supreme Court if needed before the US deadline.

On Tuesday, May 14, a group of TikTok content creators filed a lawsuit to stop a law that could ban apps used by 170 million Americans. They say it has "deeply affected American life."

Last week, TikTok and parent company ByteDance filed a similar lawsuit, arguing that the law violated the US Constitution in several respects including violating the protection of freedom of speech from the First Amendment.

"Given the large number of users of the TikTok platform, the general public has a significant interest in quick resolution of this issue," said the US Department of Justice and the parties submitting applications from TikTok.

TikTok said with a quick schedule they believed legal challenges could be resolved without the need to ask for help in its preliminary conjunction.

The law, signed by US President Joe Biden on April 24, gives ByteDance until January 19 to sell TikTok or face bans. The White House said it wanted to see Chinese-based holdings end on the basis of national security, but not a ban on TikTok.

The parties asked the court to establish a case for verbal talks as quickly as possible during the September case calendar. The Justice Department said it might submit classy material to support secret national security justification with courts.

Earlier this week the Justice Department said the TikTok law "overcomes crucial national security concerns in a manner consistent with First Amendments and other constitutional limitations."

The law prohibits app stores like Apple and Google from offering TikTok and prohibits internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance releases TikTok.

Motivated by concerns among US legislators that China could access American data or spy on them with the app, the move was strongly approved in Congress just weeks after it was submitted.