Tracker Detail
TikTok, Inc. v. Garland
Name | Type | Government | Date Initiated | Status | Last Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TikTok, Inc. v. Garland | Litigation | United States | May 7, 2024 | Oral argument | Sep 16, 2024 |
Summary
TikTok Inc. and ByteDance, as well as a group of TikTok creators ("Creators"), filed a joint complaint in federal court challenging the constitutionality of a law that gives TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, up to nine months to sell the company or face a ban from app stores in the US. The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521) passed Congress and was signed by the President in April 2024.
TikTok's complaint argues that the "qualified divestiture" required by the act is "not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally. And certainly not on the 270-day timeline required..." Moreover, the law is an "extraordinary and unconstitutional assertion of power" that "circumvent[s] the First Amendment by invoking national security." It also argues that in "contrast with past enactments that sought to regulate constitutionally protected activity, Congress enacted these extreme measures without a single legislative finding."
Updates
June 20, 2024. TikTok Inc. and Creators file brief of petitioners.
June 27, 2024. A group of constitutional law scholars, the Knight First Amendment Institute et al., the Electronic Frontier Foundation et al., and others file amici briefs in support of TikTok et al. or neither party.
July 26, 2024. US government's files respondent brief. Parts of the brief were redacted at the request of the government.
August 2, 2024. Former national security government officials, the Campaign for Uyghurs et al., a coalition of 21 states, and others file briefs in support of the US government.
August 15, 2024. TikTok Inc. and Creators file reply briefs.
September 16, 2024. District of Columbia Court of Appeals hears oral arguments from TikTok Inc., Creators, and the US government.
