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WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - TikTok and its owner

Bytedance on Tuesday sued to stop a law that would give its

Chinese parent about a year to divest the U.S. assets of the

short-video app, or face a nationwide ban.

Here is a look at the effort to ban the app.

WHY ARE US OFFICIALS FORCING A DIVESTMENT OR BANNING TIKTOK?

U.S. officials warned TikTok's management is beholden to the

Chinese government and fear Beijing could use the social media

app to influence the 2024 U.S. elections, Director of National

Intelligence Avril Haines told a House of Representatives

intelligence committee hearing in March.

Many U.S. lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic

parties and the Biden administration also say TikTok poses

national security risks because China could compel the company

to share the data of its 170 million monthly U.S. users.

The Department of Justice recently told lawmakers that

because ByteDance is headquartered in Beijing, TikTok's American

users are at risk because foreign governments like China's "are

known for their surveillance and censorship."

TikTok has denied that it has or ever would share U.S. user

data, accusing American lawmakers in the lawsuit of advancing

"speculative" concerns

WHAT DOES THE LAW MEAN?

In an election year when many politicians do not want to be

seen as soft on China, the legislation is part of a series of

moves responding to national security concerns. Officials in

both political parties have raised red flags about TikTok along

with other issues ranging from connected vehicles to advanced

artificial intelligence chips to cranes at U.S. ports.

On the other side, many younger voters oppose a ban because

they use the app to express their views and follow politics.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden's re-election campaign

joined TikTok to reach young voters ahead of the November

presidential elections.

WHO VOTED IN FAVOR OF THE DIVEST OR BAN LAW?

The House passed the law 360-58 with broad bipartisan

support as part of a $95 billion legislative package that also

provides security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Days later, the Senate approved the legislation and U.S.

President Joe Biden signed it into law.

The TikTok measure stems from legislation introduced on

March 5 by Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher, who resigned

in April, and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the

committee's top Democrat, with more than a dozen other

lawmakers.

Detractors include Democratic Representative Ro Khanna who

has said he felt a TikTok ban may not survive legal scrutiny in

courts, citing the Constitution's free speech protections.

A number of prominent Democrats in the House voted against

the bill, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush and

Pramila Jayapal.

"There are serious antitrust and privacy questions here, and

any national security concerns should be laid out to the public

prior to a vote," Ocasio-Cortez said at the time.

HOW WOULD A BAN BE ENFORCED?

The law gives TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about nine

months to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app. The

deadline could be extended by three months if the president

determines there is progress toward a sale.

It is unclear whether China would approve any sale or if

TikTok could divest its U.S. assets by the deadline.

If ByteDance failed to do so, app stores operated by Apple ( AAPL )

, Alphabet's Google and others could not

legally offer TikTok or provide web hosting services to

ByteDance-controlled applications.

In theory, the ban would make it difficult, if not

impossible, for users to access TikTok in the U.S.

IS TIKTOK BANNED IN OTHER COUNTRIES?

India banned TikTok along with dozens of other apps by

Chinese developers in June 2020, saying they could compromise

national security and integrity. Nepal's government banned the

app in November 2023.

Several countries, including the U.S., Australia, Canada and

New Zealand have banned TikTok from federal government-owned

devices.