TikTok fights for survival in latest filing as ban approaches
NPRTikTok fights for survival in latest filing as ban approaches toggle caption Damian Dovarganes/AP TikTok is fighting back in its latest court filing in the battle over its future in the U.S., arguing that the law that could ban the app represents "the most sweeping speech restriction in the country's history." The court filing on Thursday is the latest salvo in TikTok’s lawsuit seeking to block a law from taking effect that would shutter the app’s American operations unless it divests from ByteDance, its China-based parent company. “The government cites no evidence of this supposed Chinese control—and its contention is flatly wrong,” TikTok attorney Alex Berengaut wrote in the filing to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Justice Department doubts this claim, writing in Thursday’s filing that “an entity founded and based in China and subject to Chinese laws controls TikTok’s recommendation algorithm.” The algorithm in question could not be sold without the blessing of the Chinese government under the country’s export-control laws, yet TikTok says the American version of the algorithm is trained only on U.S. user data and under the supervision of Oracle.