TikTok CEO Shou Chew said Wednesday that the company would go to court to try to remain online in the United States.
In a video posted on the app, Chew denounced a potential ban signed into law by President Joe Biden. The law has a built-in delay of nine months, giving TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, a chance to sell the app rather than face a nationwide prohibition.
"Rest assured, we aren't going anywhere," Chew said in the two-minute video posted to TikTok's main corporate account.
"We are confident and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts. The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail," he said.
The video had about 176,000 likes roughly an hour after he posted it.TikTok has a winning record in the courts already. In 2020, a federal judge blocked an attempt by then-President Donald Trump to ban TikTok in the U.S., ruling that an order from Trump was "arbitrary and capricious."
In November, a different federal judge blocked a law in Montana that threatened to ban TikTok statewide. The judge ruled in favor of five content creators who had sued. He said that the law "oversteps state power and infringes on the constitutional rights of users."
The debate over TikTok's future is about not only free expression online and the future of social media but also how Americans think about data security and who's deciding what they see online. Proponents of a ban argue that personal information of U.S. users isn't safe because of the app's Chinese ownership, which critics say creates the possibility of Chinese spying on users. Proponents of the ban also say that China could pressure the company to manipulate what users see in order to further the country's foreign policy aims.
TikTok has said that it's working to alleviate security concerns by storing data in the U.S. and that the propaganda concerns are unfounded. Chew is from Singapore.
The federal proposed ban that Biden signed into law Wednesday was included in a $95 billion national security package with aid to Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine.
The nine-month delay in the law means the earliest a ban could take effect would be January 2025. That's after the presidential election, meaning TikTok's millions of users may remain a force in the campaign. The law also allows the president to grant a one-time extension of 90 days on top of the nine months.
TikTok says it has 170 million users in the U.S., or about half the country, though that doesn't mean they're all frequent users.
In his video, Chew brushed aside the possibility of a sale, arguing that a long-discussed spinoff to non-Chinese owners was not lawmakers' goal.
"Make no mistake. This is a ban: a ban on TikTok and a ban on you and your voice. Politicians may say otherwise, but don't get confused. Many who sponsored the bill admit a TikTok ban is the ultimate goal," he said.
Chew also urged users and advertisers to rally to the platform's defense by talking about how they use it.
"While we make our case in court, you'll still be able to enjoy TikTok like you always have. In fact, if you have a story about how TikTok impacts your life, we would love for you to share it to showcase exactly what we're fighting for," he said.
