TikTok challenges DOJ’s secret evidence request

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance are urging a US appeals court to dismiss the Justice Department’s request to keep parts of its legal case against TikTok confidential. The government aims to file over 15% of its brief and 30% of its evidence in secret, which TikTok argues would hinder its ability to challenge any potentially incorrect factual claims.

The Justice Department, which has not commented publicly, recently filed a classified document outlining security concerns regarding ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok. The document includes declarations from the FBI and other national security agencies.

The government contends that TikTok’s Chinese ownership poses a significant national security threat due to its access to vast amounts of personal data from American users and China’s potential for information manipulation.

In response, TikTok maintains that it has never and will never share US user data with China or manipulate video content as alleged. The company suggests appointing a district court judge as a special master to review the classified submissions if the court does not reject the secret evidence.

The Biden administration has asked the court to dismiss lawsuits filed by TikTok, ByteDance, and TikTok creators that aim to block a law requiring the divestiture of TikTok’s US assets by 19 January or face a ban. Despite the lack of evidence that the Chinese government has accessed US user data, the Justice Department insists that the potential risk remains too significant to ignore.