TikTok is suing President Donald Trump’s administration, alleging that its order banning transactions with parent company ByteDance infringes due process protections, goes beyond the purview of sanctions rules, and provides no evidence that TikTok is a national security threat.
"The Executive Order issued by the Administration . . . has the potential to strip the rights of that community without any evidence to justify such an extreme action, and without any due process," ByteDance wrote in a post. "We strongly disagree with the Administration's position that TikTok is a national security threat and we have articulated these objections previously".
ByteDance's lawsuit argues Trump disregarded TikTok’s cooperation with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US and that personal communications, which it claims should include apps, are usually exempt from sanctions and protected by the First Amendment.
The China-based company explained:
"Now is the time for us to act. We do not take suing the government lightly, however we feel we have no choice but to take action to protect our rights, and the rights of our community and employees. In our complaint we make clear that we believe the Administration ignored our extensive efforts to address its concerns, which we conducted fully and in good faith even as we disagreed".
ByteDance also said the Trump administration's order "is not rooted in bona fide national security concerns". It further noted independent national security and information security experts have "expressed doubt as to whether its stated national security objective is genuine".
TikTok is used to create and share videos. Creators can leverage the app's vast catalogue of sound effects, music, and filters to record short clips of themselves dancing and lip-syncing. There's an untold number of videos to discover - DIY and craft videos, comedy, you name it.
Trump has given ByteDance until 12 November to sell TikTok or face a ban. Microsoft, Oracle, and Twitter are all reportedly interested in buying.