Bytedance does not want to negotiate
TikTok wants to stop forced sales in court
May 7, 2024, 8:16 p.m
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A law has been in force in the USA for two weeks that is intended to force the Chinese Bytedance group to sell the short video app TikTok. The company has 270 days to do this and is now suing against the new regulation.
TikTok is going to court against US law that is intended to force a change of ownership of the popular short video app. The subsidiary of the China-based Bytedance Group argued in the lawsuit filed that it violates the freedom of speech enshrined in the US Constitution. According to the law, Bytedance has around a year to separate from TikTok before the app is banned from app stores in the USA. The justification is based on the risk that China could gain access to Americans’ data and exercise political influence.
The TikTok lawsuit states, among other things, that a proposed separation from Bytedance to remain in the US is “simply not possible”, neither commercially, technologically nor legally. With the lawsuit before an appeals court in the capital Washington, TikTok could have the countdown to the trial period stopped.
The law, which came into force around two weeks ago, initially gives Bytedance 270 days to separate from TikTok. President Joe Biden can then extend the deadline by another three months if there are signs of progress in the sales talks. But TikTok made it clear that from the company’s perspective this would not happen. “There is no question: the law will force TikTok to close on January 19, 2025,” the lawsuit said. According to media reports, Bytedance does not even plan to negotiate a sale of TikTok.
Bytedance is seen as a Chinese company across all parties in the USA. TikTok counters that Bytedance is 60 percent owned by Western investors. The company headquarters are on the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. However, US politicians counter that the Chinese founders maintained control thanks to higher voting rights with a share of 20 percent and that Bytedance’s headquarters are in Beijing, where they cannot escape the influence of the authorities.
It is unclear whether the law can stand up in US courts. An earlier ban threat during the term of office of Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump failed there, and a similar law in the state of Montana was recently shelved due to possible violations of the freedom of expression enshrined in the US Constitution. TikTok claims to have 170 million users in the USA.