Washington DC - TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance filed a legal challenge against the United States on Tuesday, taking aim at a law that would force the app to be sold or face a US ban.

This comes around two weeks after President Joe Biden signed a bill giving TikTok 270 days to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the country.

The video-sharing platform argues that this was unconstitutional.

"For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide," said the petition by TikTok and ByteDance.

The petition argued that the move violates the First Amendment, charging that "Congress has made a law curtailing massive amounts of protected speech."

It also said the divestiture demanded in order for TikTok to keep running in the United States is "simply not possible" – and not on the timeline required.

The White House can extend the 270-day deadline once, by 90 days.

During this period, the app would continue to operate for its roughly 170 million US users.