Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall joined other attorneys general across the nation in asking the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to uphold legislation to divest or ban TikTok.
Marshall said the matter is one of national security.
“All users of TikTok must understand that every click, location and recording is used as intelligence that we have ample reason to believe is available to the Chinese Communist Party. Americans asked for Congress to take action against this intrusion by a top foreign adversary, and Congress acted,” Marshall said. “We are urging the courts to uphold the lower court’s decision and enforce this critical national security law.”
The brief signed by 21 attorneys general, supports a law passed by Congress that would ban TikTok if the social media platform’s parent company, ByteDance, does not sell its share.
Following the legislation, ByteDance and TikTok sued the federal government, saying the law restricts speech. However, the brief states privacy and security concerns for Americans are the reasons for the ban, citing several news articles and investigations finding user information is accessible by the Chinese government.
“TikTok is a valuable tool for conducting corporate and international espionage, and it may allow the Chinese Communist Party to track the real-time locations of public officials, journalists, and other individuals adverse to the Chinese Communist Party’s interests,” the attorneys generals stated in the brief.
Attorneys general from Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah also joined the brief led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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