*

ByteDance argues divestiture is not possible

technologically,

commercially or legally

*

TikTok claims the law violates Americans' free speech

rights

*

TikTok has spent over $2 billion on efforts to protect

U.S. user

data

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) - TikTok and Chinese

parent ByteDance on Thursday urged a U.S. court to strike down a

law they say will ban the popular short app in the United States

on Jan. 19, saying the U.S. government refused to engage in any

serious settlement talks after 2022.

Legislation signed in April by President Joe Biden gives

ByteDance until Jan. 19 of next year to divest TikTok's U.S.

assets or face a ban on the app used by 170 million Americans.

ByteDance says a divestiture is "not possible technologically,

commercially, or legally."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will

hold oral arguments on lawsuits filed by TikTok and ByteDance

along with TikTok users on Sept. 16. TikTok's future in the

United States may rest on the outcome of the case which could

impact how the U.S. government uses its new authority to clamp

down on foreign-owned apps.

"This law is a radical departure from this country's

tradition of championing an open Internet, and sets a dangerous

precedent allowing the political branches to target a disfavored

speech platform and force it to sell or be shut down," ByteDance

and TikTok argue in asking the court to strike down the law.

Driven by worries among U.S. lawmakers that China could

access data on Americans or spy on them with the app, the

measure was passed overwhelmingly in Congress just weeks after

being introduced.

TikTok says any divestiture or separation - even if

technically possible - would take years and it argues that the

law runs afoul of Americans' free speech rights.

Further, it says the law unfairly singles out TikTok for

punitive treatment and "ignores many applications with

substantial operations in China that collect large amounts of

U.S. user data, as well as the many U.S. companies that develop

software and employ engineers in China."

ByteDance recounted lengthy negotiations between the company

and the U.S. government that it says abruptly ended in August

2022. The company also made public a redacted version of a

100-plus page draft national security agreement to protect U.S.

TikTok user data and says it has spent more than $2 billion on

the effort.

The draft agreement included giving the U.S. government a

"kill switch" to suspend TikTok in the United States at the

government's sole discretion if the company did not comply with

the agreement and says the U.S. demanded that TikTok's source

code be moved out of China.

"This administration has determined that it prefers to try

to shut down TikTok in the United States and eliminate a

platform of speech for 170 million Americans, rather than

continue to work on a practical, feasible, and effective

solution to protect U.S. users through an enforceable agreement

with the U.S. government," TikTok lawyers wrote the Justice

Department in an April 1 email made public on Thursday.

In 2020, then-President Donald Trump was blocked by the

courts in his bid to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat, a unit

of Tencent ( TCTZF ) in the United States.

The White House says it wants to see Chinese-based ownership

ended on national security grounds, but not a ban on TikTok.

Earlier this month, Trump joined TikTok and has recently raised

concerns about a potential ban.

The law prohibits app stores like those of Apple ( AAPL )

and Alphabet's Google from offering TikTok. It also

bars internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless it

is divested by ByteDance.