Short-video platform TikTok's chief executive Shou Zi Chew said that it will challenge the new bill passed by the US Congress to ban the company.
After US President Joe Biden signed the bill to assist Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region, the provision within the bill requiring ByteDance, the Chinese shareholder of TikTok, to sell its equity within 270 days, otherwise, the provision on being prohibited from downloading will take effect accordingly.
Shou Zi Chew said in an interview with the media that this provision is a ban, which violates the right to maintain freedom of speech within the US Constitution, and the group will challenge the relevant provisions and is confident of winning.
During his tenure, former US President Trump also tried to impose a ban on TikTok and Chinese social media platforms for consideration of national security, but was blocked by the court. It is expected that TikTok will question the bill on the grounds of the First Amendment, and it is estimated that users will also take legal action again. In November last year, a judge in Montana state blocked the state's ban on TikTok on the grounds of freedom of speech. The American Civil Liberties Union said that banning or requiring the divestiture of TikTok would "set a staggering global precedent for the government's excessive control of social media platforms."
