Popular short-video app TikTok is planning to file a lawsuit against US president Donald Trump’s executive order to block the app.
In a statement issued on Saturday, TikTok, which is owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance, argues it had been deprived of due process when Trump moved to block it in the US.
Trump signed the directive on 6 August, blocking all transactions with ByteDance in an effort to “address the national emergency”.
On 14 August, the US president also issued an order that that gave ByteDance 90 days to divest the US operations of TikTok.
Since then, US companies such as Microsoft and Oracle have been lining up as potential buyers for the popular short video app.
As the trade war between the US and China rages on, the US government has accelerated its efforts to purge Chinese apps and technology companies that it deems untrustworthy.
“TikTok, a video-sharing mobile application owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has reportedly been downloaded over 175 million times in the United States and over one billion times globally,” said Trump.
“TikTok automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users, including Internet and other network activity information, such as location data and browsing and search histories.”
According to Trump, this data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information – potentially allowing China to track the locations of federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.
TikTok plans to file the lawsuit against the Trump administration this week.
In a statement, the company says: “To ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and users are treated fairly, we have no choice but to challenge the executive order through the judicial system.”
“Even though we strongly disagree with the administration’s concerns, for nearly a year we have sought to engage in good faith to provide a constructive solution,” says Josh Gartner, a TikTok spokesman, in a statement.
“What we encountered instead was a lack of due process as the administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses.”
According to TikTok, the executive order risks undermining global businesses’ trust in the US’s commitment to the rule of law, which has served as a magnet for investment and spurred decades of American economic growth.
The company believes the order sets a dangerous precedent for the concept of free expression and open markets.
“We will pursue all remedies available to us in order to ensure the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and our users are treated fairly – if not by the administration, then by the US courts,” says TikTok.
“As TikTok users, creators, partners and family, you have the right to express your opinions to your elected representatives, including the White House. You have the right to be heard.”
Share