TikTok to sue Trump administration after attempting to block it in US

TikTok has announced it will file a lawsuit against the Trump administration, following its attempts to ban the Chinese-owned app in the US.

The company said in a statement on Saturday that it had encountered a ‘lack of due process’ while trying to work with the US government to find a solution to its national security concerns over the app.

It said the administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses.

The statement continued: ‘To ensure that the rule of law prevails and that our company and users are treated fairly, we have no choice but to challenge the Executive Order through the judicial system.’

The lawsuit is expected to be filed in the US District Court this week, following the president’s executive order on the August 6 which forbids ‘any transaction’ between a US citizen and TikTok’s parent company ByteDance within 45 days.

A week later, another order was issued that gave ByteDance 90 days to divest interest in the app’s US operations.

Previously, President Trump set a September 15 deadline for Microsoft or a different ‘very American’ company to buy the app. But he also suggested that the US should receive a ‘substantial portion’ of money in a potential deal because the country is ‘making it possible for this deal to happen.’

Recently, TikTok launched a website defending itself against the US government, stating: ‘With rumours and misinformation about TikTok proliferating in Washington and in the media, let us set the record straight.’

But the US government continues to argue that Chinese-based apps like TikTok and WeChat could expose personal information and user data to Beijing.

The company denies the claims and insists that data remains in a secure server in Virginia.

On its new website, it writes that all information about data security is available in the ‘Transparency Centre’ but makes it clear that ‘TikTok has never shared user data with the Chinese government, nor censored content at its request.’

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