Human Rights Organizations File Supreme Court Amicus Brief Highlighting Dangers of TikTok

  • December 28, 2024

CFU PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[email protected]

650-703-4523

December 27, 2024

Washington, D.C. – Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) and a coalition of human rights organizations, including the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Watch, the International Campaign for Tibet, the Uyghur American Association, the Uyghur Human Rights Project, and the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, have united with Thayer, P.L.L.C. to file an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case TikTok, Inc., et al. v. Merrick B. Garland.

This case marks the next step in the legal battle over the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, also known as the “TikTok Bill.” Signed into law by President Joe Biden on April 24, 2024, the Act requires apps owned by entities linked to designated foreign adversaries—such as TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, which is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—to divest from U.S. operations. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected TikTok’s lawsuit, which argued that the forced divestiture violated its First Amendment rights. TikTok has appealed the decision, and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case.

CFU previously led a coalition of 39 groups in a joint letter to the Senate advocating for the Act. Additionally, CFU and other amici first supported the legislation through an amicus brief filed in the D.C. Circuit. Both initiatives highlighted the dangers of CCP-linked apps like TikTok in enabling surveillance and transnational repression, particularly against human rights activists. With the Supreme Court hearing approaching, the coalition has united again to support the Act.

“TikTok, facilitates the monitoring and silencing of dissenters, reflecting the same authoritarian tactics used by the Chinese Communist Party in the Uyghur genocide,” said Rushan Abbas, Executive Director of Campaign for Uyghurs. “We are proud to stand with this coalition to advocate for digital safety, accountability, and the protection of human rights.”

The amicus brief underscores that TikTok, is not just a social media app—it is an instrument of the CCP’s global strategy to gain access to sensitive user data, silence dissent, target activists through surveillance, and suppress free speech. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act places essential safeguards against this threat, ensuring that CCP-controlled platforms cannot jeopardize U.S. national security or the safety of those who draw awareness to the Chinese government’s human rights abuses and genocide. 

To read the entire Amicus brief visit: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-656/336057/20241227120841447_Nos.%2024-656%2024-657%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf

Picture of Jacob

Joe Lubas

Campaign for Uyghurs

We defend the human rights of Uyghur people and the free world by exposing and confronting the Chinese government's genocide, and empowering Uyghur women and youth in the diaspora.

Donate Now

READ MORE

Forced Labor, Coercive Land-Use Transfers, and Forced Assimilation in Xinjiang’s Agricultural Production
Located in the northwest of China, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region boasts long hours of sunshine and ample water for irrigation — making the region geographically ideal for growing cotton. Cotton grown in Xinjiang, which has good coloration and long fiber, is favored in both domestic and foreign markets.
‘This Has Been Delayed For Too Long’
Source: RFA Rushan Abbas, a former broadcaster for RFA’s Uyghur Service and the director of the U.S.-based Campaign for Uighurs exile group, recently testified at the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in Washington about rights violations in northwest China’s
Uyghurs in Exile Launch Campaign Calling on China to Release Video of Missing Family Members
Source: RFA More than a dozen ethnic Uyghurs living in exile have called on China to release video of family members held in political “re-education camps” in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) after Chinese state media published what it
Tough Curbs on Burials
Source: RFA HONG KONG—Ethnic minority Uyghurs from the far-west Chinese city of Urumqi say authorities attach strict conditions when they release the bodies of Uyghurs who die in custody. Hundreds of Uyghurs were detained as part of a broad crackdown
I’ve fought China’s slow-motion genocide of Uighur Muslims. Now, my family are victims.
Source: USA Today   The world is finally waking up to the ongoing and terrifying violations of human rights against the Uighurs — a Muslim minority in Northwest China. My own family is victim to these violations. As both an American citizen and
Remarks by Ambassador Sam Brownback at Taipei Religious Freedom Conference
Remarks by Ambassador Sam Brownback at Taipei Religious Freedom Conference March 11, 2019 I would like to thank President Tsai’s comments and her for taking the time to be here out of her busy schedule. I can’t help but just
On Capitol Hill, persecuted Muslims unite to protect religious minorities’ rights
(RNS) — More than 125 members of the minority Ahmadi Muslim sect spent Monday (April 1) on Capitol Hill advocating for international religious freedom causes — particularly lending their voices on behalf of beleaguered Uighur Muslims. As part of its
As Countries Seek Trade With China, Imprisoned Uyghur Community Has Become “Collateral Damage”
China’s top trade negotiator is traveling to Washington this week as tension over trade intensifies between the two nations. President Trump is threatening to impose a 25 percent tariff on nearly all Chinese imports after the U.S. accused China of

STAY
INFORMED

Add your name to our mailing list so we can keep you updated about upcoming events, speciality drives, new initiatives and more.