In a major development, TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have filed a lawsuit challenging a new American law that seeks to ban the popular video-sharing app in the United States unless it is sold to an approved buyer. The social media platform argues that the law unfairly singles out TikTok and poses an unprecedented attack on free speech.

In the lawsuit filed in a Washington appeals court, ByteDance argues that the new law vaguely portrays its ownership of TikTok as a national security threat, thus circumventing the protections afforded by the First Amendment. The company asserts that there is no evidence to support the claim that it poses a threat to national security and alleges that the law is "obviously unconstitutional," with its sponsors disguising it as a means to regulate ownership.

The law, signed by President Joe Biden as part of a larger foreign aid package, marks the first time that a social media company has been singled out for a potential ban in the United States. Free speech advocates liken the ban to tactics employed by repressive regimes such as those in Iran and China.

This lawsuit represents another turn in the lengthy legal battle over TikTok's future in the United States and may potentially reach the Supreme Court. If TikTok loses the case, it claims it will be forced to shut down by next year.

Under the law, ByteDance is required to sell TikTok to a U.S.-approved buyer within nine months. However, the company has stated that it has no plans to sell TikTok and that even if it wanted to, it would need approval from the Chinese government. According to the lawsuit, the Chinese government has made it clear that ByteDance cannot include the algorithm that populates users' feeds, which has been instrumental in TikTok's success in the United States.

TikTok and ByteDance argue that the law leaves them with no alternative but to shut down as continuing operations in the United States would be impractical from commercial, technological, and legal standpoints. They also claim that divesting the U.S. TikTok platform separately from the rest of TikTok would create an isolated entity, detached from the global community of over 1 billion users.

The lawsuit further highlights the technological challenges of divestment, as the law mandates the separation of millions of lines of software code to eliminate any operational relationship between ByteDance and the new U.S. app.

TikTok and ByteDance assert that their rights to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by the First Amendment, should protect them from the ban and are seeking a declaratory judgment that the law is unconstitutional.

The Justice Department has declined to comment on the lawsuit, while the White House press secretary referred questions about President Biden's use of TikTok to his campaign.

Experts anticipate that ByteDance will seek a preliminary injunction to temporarily halt the enforcement of the law, a decision that could be pivotal for the case. However, the outcome is uncertain, as it involves balancing free speech concerns against the government's national security interests.

The battle over TikTok comes amidst a broader U.S.-China rivalry in advanced technologies and data security, which are crucial for both countries' economic strength and national security. Lawmakers and officials have expressed concerns that Chinese authorities could access U.S. user data or manipulate TikTok's algorithm to influence public opinion. However, opponents of the law argue that other entities can easily obtain American data through commercial data brokers.

As the legal proceedings move forward, the outcome of this high-stakes lawsuit will have significant implications for the future of TikTok in the United States and could set a precedent for the regulation of social media platforms.