DOJ Pushes to Uphold TikTok Divestiture Law Amid Security Concerns

The U.S. Department of Justice has appealed to a federal court to enforce a law requiring China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. assets by January 19, citing national security threats due to potential data misuse. Despite ByteDance's denial of these claims, the DOJ insists on the necessity of the divestiture.

The U.S. Department of Justice has called on a federal appeals court to uphold an April law mandating that China-based ByteDance divest TikTok's U.S. assets by January 19 or face a ban. The DOJ argues that TikTok poses a significant national security threat due to its access to extensive personal data on Americans, which China could potentially manipulate.

'The serious national-security threat posed by TikTok is real,' stated the department. It emphasized that TikTok allows the Chinese government to undermine U.S. national security through data collection and covert content manipulation.

The Biden administration has requested the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to dismiss lawsuits filed by TikTok, ByteDance, and a group of TikTok creators challenging the law. Despite ByteDance's repeated denials of data-sharing with China or content manipulation, the DOJ's filing outlines broad national security concerns.

While the government admits it has no direct evidence of Chinese access to U.S. TikTok user data, it argues the risk is significant enough to warrant action. A presidential election issue, the court will hold oral arguments on the legality on September 16, just weeks before the November 5 election.

(With inputs from agencies.)