TikTok says 'simply have no choice' but to sue Donald Trump administration over threatened US ban

TikTok on Monday said that 'we simply have no choice' but to sue the US administration over US President Donald Trump`s executive order banning transactions in the country with the popular short-form video-sharing app. In a blog post, TikTok said, "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." 

It added, To be clear, we far prefer constructive dialogue over litigation. But 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."

The video-sharing app also said, "We strongly disagree with the Administration's position that TikTok is a national security threat and we have articulated these objections previously." It added, "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 with the concerns themselves."

The Executive Order issued by the Administration on August 6 has the potential to strip the rights of that community without any evidence to justify such an extreme action, and without any due process, said TikTok.

In its post, it said, "Today we are filing a complaint in federal court challenging the Administration's efforts to ban TikTok in the US. As a company we have always focused on transparency, so we want to explain why we are taking this step."

Trump has for weeks complained that TikTok, owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance Ltd, was a national security threat and might share information about users with the Chinese government. His August 6 executive order called for banning transactions with the app after 45 days. Trump issued a separate executive order on August 14 giving ByteDance 90 days to divest TikTok`s US operations and any data.

The company currently faces a deadline of September 15 to either sell its US operations to Microsoft Corp or face an outright ban, according to news agency Reuters. Under a Chinese law introduced in 2017, companies have an obligation to support and cooperate in the country`s national intelligence work.

TikTok has previously said its growing US team has no higher priority than promoting a safe app experience that protects users` privacy, Reuters had reported.