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according to foreign media reports on september 17, tiktok faced off against the us government in federal court on monday, saying that a law that could ban the platform in just a few months is unconstitutional, while the us department of justice said it was necessary to eliminate national security risks posed by the popular social media company.

for more than two hours before a three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in washington, lawyers for both sides and content creators faced a wide range of arguments, laying out their best arguments for and against the law that forces the companies to sever ties by mid-january or lose one of the world's largest markets.

andrew pincus, a veteran attorney representing the two companies, argued in court that the law unfairly targets the company and violates the first amendment because tiktok inc. (tiktok's u.s. subsidiary) is a u.s. entity.

after his speech, another attorney representing content creators also challenged the law, arguing that it infringes on the rights of american spokespersons and is similar to banning americans from publishing in foreign media such as politico, al jazeera or spotify.

"the law before this court is unprecedented, and its impact will be staggering," pincus said.

he added that the bill would impose restrictions on speech based on future risks.

the bill, signed by president joe biden in april, was the culmination of years of debate in washington over the short-video-sharing app, which the u.s. government considers a national security threat due to suspected links to china.

the u.s. has expressed concerns that tiktok collects large amounts of user data, including sensitive information on viewing habits, which could fall into chinese hands through coercion. officials have also warned that the proprietary algorithms that determine what users see on the app are vulnerable to manipulation and could be used to shape content on the platform in ways that are difficult to detect.

justice department lawyer daniel tenney acknowledged in court that many companies collect data for commercial purposes, such as targeting ads or tailoring videos to users' interests.

the problem is that the same data is extremely valuable to foreign adversaries seeking to undermine u.s. security, he said.

pincus, tiktok's lawyer, said congress should have been careful to disclose any potential propaganda on the platform rather than taking the divestiture or ban approach, which the companies have insisted would only result in a ban.

he also said that statements by lawmakers before the law was passed suggested they were driven by what they viewed as propaganda on tiktok, namely the imbalance between pro-palestinian and pro-israeli content on the platform during the gaza war.

but the panel of two republican judges and one democratic judge expressed some skepticism, pressing tiktok's lawyers on whether they thought the government had any leeway to restrict influential media companies controlled by foreign entities in hostile countries. in part of the questions about tiktok's foreign ownership, the judges asked whether the arguments being made applied if the united states was involved in a war.

judge nyomi rao, who was appointed by former president donald trump, said the creators suing over the law could continue to speak on tiktok if it was sold or if they chose to post their content on other platforms. but their lawyer, jeffrey fisher, argued that for them there is no interchangeable medium because the look and feel of tiktok, which has 170 million u.s. users, and the type of audience it allows them to reach are unique.

paul tran, one of the content creators suing the government, told reporters outside the court on monday that a skin-care company he and his wife founded in 2018 had been struggling until they began making tiktok videos three years ago.

he said they had tried marketing their products through traditional advertising and other social media apps. but tiktok videos were the only thing that drove views, helping them get enough orders to sell out the product and even appear on a tv show.

chen delan said: tiktok has indeed inspired our company and saved it from bankruptcy.

he pointed out that currently, more than 90% of love and pebble's products are sold through tiktok, and tiktok covers the legal costs of creators' lawsuits.

in the second half of the hearing, the panel pressed the justice department on its first amendment challenges to the law.

supreme court chief justice sri srinivasan, who was appointed by former president barack obama, said efforts to curb content manipulation through government action did ring alarm bells and impact people who are on the receiving end of speech on tiktok.

justice department attorney tenney responded that the law does not target tiktok users or creators and its impact on them is only indirect.

tiktok has repeatedly said it does not share u.s. user data with the chinese government.

tiktok and bytedance also claim in their lawsuit that divestiture is impossible. even if it were possible, they say tiktok would be reduced to a shell of its former self because it would be stripped of the technology that powers it.

although the government’s main reason for enacting the law is to be public, a large portion of its court filings contain redacted information.

but the companies argue the government could have taken a more targeted approach to address their concerns.

more than two years ago, during high-stakes negotiations with the biden administration, tiktok submitted a 90-page draft agreement to the government that would have allowed third parties to monitor the platform's algorithms, content moderation practices, and other programming. but the company said a deal fell through because government officials essentially walked away from the negotiating table in august 2022.

justice department officials argued that complying with the draft agreement would be impossible or require significant resources because of the platform’s size and technological complexity, and they said the only way to address the government’s concerns would be to sever ties between tiktok and bytedance.