The Department of Justice is asking a federal appeals court to reject attempts by TikTok to block a law forcing the sale of the massively popular video-sharing site, accusing the Chinese-owned company of collecting U.S. user data on topics like abortion, gun control and religion.
In documents filed late on Friday, prosecutors argued the social media behemoth’s abilities to gather information on users based on their views on such divisive issues can pose a significant threat to national security.
DOJ officials accused TikTok and its parent company ByteDance of using an internal web-suite system called Lark that allows employees of the platform to communicate directly with the Beijing-headquartered ByteDance.
Friday’s document filed to the federal appeals court in Washington marks the first time the Biden administration has responded to a lawsuit filed by ByteDance, TikTok and a group of TikTok creators against the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
The bipartisan legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden in April forces ByteDance to divest ownership in the U.S. version of TikTok within one year. If it doesn’t, the social media platform can face a ban in the U.S.
TikTok and its parent company filed a lawsuit in May arguing the law is unconstitutional.
“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide,” attorneys for the company wrote.
In Friday’s filing, the DOJ wrote TikTok’s algorithm could be used to influence the views of users in the U.S.
“Among other things, it would allow a foreign government to illicitly interfere with our political system and political discourse, including our elections,” prosecutors wrote, according to CNN.
“Allowing the Chinese government to remain poised to use TikTok to maximum effectiveness at a moment of extreme importance presents an unacceptable threat to national security,” the document stated.
@kamalaharris Thought it was about time to join!
♬ original sound – Kamala Harris
News of the filing came just a day after Vice President Kamala Harris officially joined the meme-generating platform.
“Thought it was about time,” the likely Democratic nominee and TikTok viral sensation captioned her first video shared on the site.
With News Wire Services
