Responding to a lawsuit from video-sharing platform TikTok, the US Justice Department argued that China could order the company to manipulate TikTok’s algorithm and expand Beijing’s “malign influence.”
The law requires TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer by mid January, 2025 or face a ban in the USImage: Mario Tama/Getty Imag
The US Justice Department defended a law that aims to either ban TikTok or force it to divest its assets in the US after the social media company filed a lawsuit against the legislation.
Under the law, the social media platform will have to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the US by January 19, 2025.
The Chinese-based TikTokis challenging the law before a US appeals court.
On Friday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that Byte Dance, which is TikTok’s parent company, might obey orders from the Chinese government and give it access to US users’ data. They said that Chinese officials could also order TikTok to manipulate the app’s algorithm and thus expand Beijing’s “existing malign influence operations” and boost its efforts “to undermine trust in our democracy and exacerbate social divisions.”
“The serious national-security threat posed by TikTok is real,” the department said in the filing.
