TikTok to Begin Appeal Against Being Sold or Banned in US

The BBC is reporting that TikTok will start making its case on Monday against a law that will see it banned in the US unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells the social media app within nine months.

The measure – signed into law by President Joe Biden in April – has been prompted by concerns that US users’ data is vulnerable to exploitation by China’s government.

TikTok and ByteDance have always denied links to the Chinese authorities and have described the law an extraordinary intrusion on free speech rights.

The firm, which claims to have more than 1-hundred and 70 million US users, will make its arguments before a three-judge panel at an appeals court in Washington DC.

Company representatives will be joined by eight TikTok creators, including a Texas rancher and a Tennessee baker, who say they rely on the platform to market their products and make a living.

Lawyers from the Department of Justice will then proceed to lay out their case.