TikTok to Sue US Government Over Trump's Ban on App

TikTok confirms plans to file a lawsuit against the U.S. government on Saturday. They argued that President Trump's executive order that bans the app has deprived it of due process.

TikTok also said it was unfairly and incorrectly treated as a security threat by Trump, reported New York Times. It plans to file the suit next week, but the court where they will file it is not yet clear.

The lawsuit will be TikTok's most public legal pushback against the Trump administration, BBC reported.

In a statement obtained by The Verge, TikTok spokesperson Josh Gartner said the company sought to engage in good faith to give "constructive solution" to the government's concerns.

"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," Gartner said.

The statement also details how TikTok came to a decision of suing the government. In it, the company said they want to ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and they, along with their users, are treated fairly.

TikTok also "strongly disagreed" with Trump's concerns that led to the ban, reported Bloomberg.

The ban on TikTok's U.S. Operations started on August 6 and lasted 45 days. Trump gave the company 90 days to divest itself from its Chinese parent company ByteDance.

The heat between TikTok and the U.S. Government has lasted for weeks. Trump railed against TikTok and its ties to China, arguing that the app was a national security threat.

It was believed to be a security threat as it was alleged to share data about its users with the Chinese government.

TikTok has repeatedly denied that it shares data with the Chinese government. They tried to appease the Trump administration previously, said reports.

But the White House's actions pushed them to become more critical of its moves.

No Shield for ByteDance from Divesting

The legal challenge served by TikTok will not shield ByteDance from divesting the app, reported Reuters. It only pertains to the August 14 order on TikTok's sale, which is not subject to judicial review.

It is evident, though, that ByteDance wants to use all the legal ammunition it has as it tries to prevent a fire sale on the app.

News on a possible lawsuit against the government started before, but was never confirmed by TikTok.

Representatives of the White House did not respond to request for comment, along with the Department of Justice.

A separate lawsuit against the president's similar ban was also filed by Chinese-Americans on the social media app WeChat.

Leading Companies in Acquiring TikTok

Trump has pushed for ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to a U.S. based company, so that user data will be stored on U.S. servers.

There are other companies reported to be interested acquiring TikTok. But Microsoft and Oracle are among the company's leading suitors. Both have held discussions on a possible deal.

The short video format of the app exploded in recent months, particularly among teens who downloaded the app more than a billion times around the world. In the U.S. alone, TikTok has over 80 million active users.

Its growing market has made it prone to and riddled with controversy, particularly against competitor Facebook.

Facebook first tried to purchase the video app Musical.ly, which eventually joined TikTok. When that failed, the company instead tried to clone the main video features of TikTok.

Lasso, a stand-alone app same as TikTok was created in 2018 and Instagram Reels was introduced in June.

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