TikTok sues US government over ban

Video-sharing app TikTok sued the United States government on Tuesday, intending to block a law signed by President Joe Biden that forces the app to be sold or face a ban in the country, India Today reported.

The "divest or ban" law signed by Biden gives the Chinese company 270 days to either find a non-Chinese buyer and divest from its parent company ByteDance or leave the US market.

The suit, filed in the federal court, argues that the law violates freedom of speech.

ByteDance in their statement, said: "For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide."

ByteDance has said it has no plans to sell TikTok, leaving the lawsuit, which will likely go to the US Supreme Court, as its only option to avoid a ban.

The US government claims that the reason behind the ban is a potential threat to national security. They say that the data could be accessed by the Chinese government.

The law also prohibits app stores such as those of Apple and Google from offering TikTok to users and has barred internet hosting services from supporting TikTok until they divest from ByteDance.