Legal experts say a TikTok ban without specific evidence violates the First Amendment

TikTok sued the Biden administration in response to a new law that bans the video app in the U.S. unless it is sold in the next 12 months. (Michael Dwyer/AP)

Forcing TikTok to shut down its American operations over unspecified national security concerns would represent a violation of the First Amendment, according to six legal scholars surveyed by NPR.

TikTok last week filed a legal challenge against the Biden administration over a law that would ban the video app unless it fully divests from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, within 12 months.