TikTok, the video-sharing application owned by China-based ByteDance, filed a lawsuit Monday against the U.S. government challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to ban the company’s American operations.
TikTok argued in a public statement that the ban prevents the company from due process, asguaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. TikTok added that President Donald Trump’s executive order, made earlier this month under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, ignored the company’s efforts to prove it doesn’t share data with the Chinese government and isn’t a national security threat.
A TikTok spokesperson noted, “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. With the Executive Order threatening to bring a ban on our US operations — eliminating the creation of 10,000 American jobs and irreparably harming the millions of Americans who turn to this app for entertainment, connection and legitimate livelihoods that are vital especially during the pandemic — we simply have no choice.”
As of Monday the White House has declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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