TikTok's Legal Battle: A Free Speech Challenge

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance are squaring off with the Justice Department over a law that could ban the app by Jan. 19. They argue the law violates free speech rights. The U.S. Court of Appeals will hear the case, driven by national security concerns about Chinese access to American data.

Lawyers representing TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, are set to clash with the Justice Department in Washington on Monday, debating the future of a law that aims to ban the short video app by January 19.

A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hear arguments from TikTok and ByteDance, seeking to prevent the law from taking effect. They argue that the law infringes on Americans' free speech rights and marks a significant shift away from the nation's tradition of advocating for an open Internet.

Judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao, and Douglas Ginsburg will evaluate the legal challenges against a statute giving ByteDance a deadline to sell or divest TikTok's U.S. operations or face a ban. The law, driven by U.S. lawmakers' fears of Chinese data access and espionage, received overwhelming approval in Congress and was enacted in April.

(With inputs from agencies.)