TikTok says DoJ's China-link claims are overblown

TikTok's continued fighting with the United States government has the video app insisting that the Department of Justice has got it wrong when it comes to its association with China.

TikTok is currently trying to fight a law introduced in the United States on April 24 that threatens the social network. Under that law, TikTok owner ByteDance has to sell the platform to another company or be banned in 2025, over fears the Chinese government could monitor US users.

In the latest legal salvo, ByteDance has told a federal appeals court that the U.S. DoJ has gone overboard with its claims of ties to China. ByteDance asked the court on Thursday to overturn the law, reports Reuters.

In its filing, TikTok explained that the content recommendation engine and U.S. user data are stored on cloud servers from Oracle. Content moderation affecting U.S. users are also made within the United States.

Furthermore, the law eliminates the free-speech rights of ByteDance. That includes a leap of logic by the DoJ that the curation choices of TikTok are "the speech of a foreigner" and unprotected by the U.S. Constitution.

ByteDance retorted by offering "By the government's logic, a U.S. newspaper that republishes the content of a foreign publication - Reuters, for example - would lack constitutional protection."

As for the prospect of a sale, ByteDance said shortly after the law's implementation that it had no intention to sell to a U.S. firm nor to divest itself from the platform. The algorithms powering TikTok and the company's other businesses were seen as a key issue to selling the platform.

Oral arguments on the legal fight will be held on September 16 by the appeals court.