Your Evening Briefing: TikTok Sues US to Block Divest-or-Ban Law

TikTok sued the US government over a new law that will force its Chinese parent ByteDance to divest the popular video app or face a ban across the country. The lawsuit marks the first legal challenge since Congress passed the measure in April, meant to address US national security concerns that Beijing could access user data or influence what’s seen on the app. It would face a shutdown by January in the absence of a sale. TikTok has argued that the law will stifle free speech and hurt creators and small business owners who benefit economically from the the platform. The company previously said that it spent more than $1.5 billion to isolate its US operations and agreed to oversight by American company Oracle.

Traveling in Eastern Europe, Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed to “never forget” NATO’s deadly bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia. Xi’s trip to Europe’s backyard is amplifying fissures in the region’s support for the US. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, US missiles killed three Chinese journalists in a strike the White House later called a mistake and blamed on faulty maps. That event sparked anti-US protests across China.