TikTok says it offered the US government the power to shut the platform down in an attempt to address lawmakers’ data protection and national security concerns.

It disclosed the “kill switch” offer, which it made in 2022, as it began its legal fight against legislation that will ban the app in America unless Chinese parent company ByteDance sells it.

The law has been introduced because of concerns TikTok might share US user data with the Chinese government - claims it and ByteDance have always denied.

TikTok and ByteDance are urging the courts to strike the legislation down.

“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,” they argued in their legal submission.

They also claimed the US government refused to engage in any serious settlement talks after 2022, and pointed to the “kill switch” offer as evidence of the lengths they had been prepared to go.

  • dezmd@lemmy.worldM
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    4 months ago

    It was always about butthurt Trump opening the floodgates on the idea of banning it after TikTokers kept attacks on him trending.

    It’s brainwashed lunacy to the point of propaganda to continually claim it’s over China using the platform to sway public opinion. They can and do use EVERY platform to do that.

    You think even Lemmy is immune?