Justice Department fights back against TikTok lawsuit as forced app sale or US ban looms

The Justice Department is fighting back against TikTok's lawsuit over a potential U.S. ban , saying the law at issue is about national security concerns surrounding the popular social media app, not suppressing free speech.

TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sued the government May 7, about three weeks after President Joe Biden signed a bill into law that would either force the app's sale or prohibit app stores and web hosting services from offering TikTok to Americans starting in January 2025. The companies say the law – which requires ByteDance to divest TikTok's US assets for TikTok to maintain its U.S. presence – violates the First Amendment by singling out and shutting down the speech forum provided by the app.

In a call with reporters ahead of the Justice Department's court filing late Friday, a senior department official said TikTok's ownership structure allows China to exploit the app to access sensitive personal information and covertly manipulate the information Americans consume.

"The goal of this law is to ensure that young people, old people, and everyone in between is able to use the platform in a safe manner," the official said. Users should be "confident that their data is not ultimately going back to the Chinese government, and what they're watching is not being directed by or censored by the Chinese government."

In its court filing responding to the lawsuit, the Justice Department also said TikTok, under its current ownership structure, could help China develop long-term intelligence operations in the U.S. by gathering sensitive information on millions of Americans.

"The Chinese government’s authority over ByteDance enables it to gain access to and exploit that information to undermine U.S. national security, including by developing and recruiting intelligence assets, identifying American covert intelligence officers and assets, and blackmailing or coercing Americans," the department said.

170 million US users will lose out: TikTok

According to TikTok, 170 million Americans – and more than 1 billion people worldwide – use its platform to create, share and view videos. It has characterized the law – the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act – as an assault on free expression.

"Never before has Congress expressly singled out and shut down a specific speech forum. Never before has Congress silenced so much speech in a single act," it told the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in a legal brief in June. TikTok was required by the law itself to file the suit directly in that court, which usually handles appeals.

The Justice Department shot back Friday that TikTok "collects vast swaths of sensitive data" from those 170 million U.S. users, including data on precise locations, viewing habits, private messages, and even data on users' phone contacts who don't themselves use the app.

"The United States has long been concerned that the Chinese government could use its robust authority to take control of these data and thus obtain 'access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information,' which China may stockpile and strategically deploy to undermine the United States’ security," the department said.

The department also said the Chinese government could covertly control TikTok's China-based algorithm for delivering videos to shape the content Americans receive "for its own malign purposes."

TikTok and the government both asked the circuit court to fast-track the case so that Supreme Court review can be sought before the ban would take effect. The court set a schedule that will allow it to hear oral arguments in September.

Contributing: Jessica Guynn

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Justice Department fights back against TikTok lawsuit as forced app sale or US ban looms