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TikTok said on Monday that "we simply have no choice" but to sue the Trump administration over U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order banning transactions in the United States with the popular short-form video-sharing app.
FILE PHOTO: A TikTok logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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REUTERS: TikTok said on Monday that "we simply have no choice" but to sue the Trump administration over U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order banning transactions in the United States with the popular short-form video-sharing app.
In a blog post, TikTok said it strongly disagreed with the White House's position that the company was a national security threat, saying it had "taken extraordinary measures to protect the privacy and security of TikToks U.S. user data."
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It also said the administration has ignored its "extensive efforts" to address its concerns, and accused Trump of politicizing the dispute by calling for a ban on TikTok in an Aug. 6 executive order.
"We do not take suing the government lightly," TikTok said. "But with the Executive Order threatening to bring a ban on our U.S. operations … we simply have no choice."
TikTok's complaint is expected to be filed later on Monday.
Amid growing distrust between Washington and Beijing, Trump has for weeks complained that TikTok, owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance Ltd, was a national security threat and might share information about users with the Chinese government.
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His Aug. 6 executive order called for banning transactions with the app after 45 days.
Trump issued a separate executive order on Aug. 14 giving ByteDance 90 days to divest TikTok's U.S. operations and any data Bell, Alistair (Reuters)
Reuters reported last week that TikTok was preparing to mount a legal challenge as early as Monday to Trump's Aug. 6 order.
ByteDance had acquired Shanghai-based video app Musical.ly in a US$1 billion transaction in 2017, and relaunched it as TikTok the following year.
In its blog post, TikTok said the Trump administration violated its constitutional right to due process by banning the company without notice.
It accused Trump of misusing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which lets the president regulate international commerce during a national emergency.
Trump had in May 2019 invoked that law to stop alleged efforts by foreign telecommunications companies to conduct economic and industriaRead More – Source
