TikTok files lawsuit in federal court to block US ban, cites freedom of speech

TikTok’s parent company has reportedly asked a US judge to block the Trump administration from banning the Chinese social media network after prohibition order announced by the Commerce Department on September 18. According to a Bloomberg report, ByteDance challenged the order in a federal court, accusing the administration of targeting the company due to political reasons rather than the “threats” mentioned by the US Department of Commerce.

The Chinese tech company has called the ban as a violation of  First Amendment free-speech rights since millions of Americans express themselves on the online platform. On August 6, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning American citizens and businesses from doing any transaction with TikTok, its parent company ByteDance Ltd., and messaging app WeChat after 45 days.

The Commerce Department orders the administration to prohibit Americans from downloading TikTok or WeChat from App Store or Google’s Play Store starting September 20. It further stated that the new order will prohibit any provision of service to distribute or maintain WeChat or TikTok, constituent code or application updates through an online mobile application store in the US. 

“Today’s actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.

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US cites national security concerns

The department stressed that though the threats posed by WeChat and TikTok “are not identical, they are similar.” It claimed that both apps collect vast swaths of data from users, and are active participants in China’s civil-military fusion. It added that both apps are subject to mandatory cooperation with the intelligence services of the Chinese Communist Party, making it “unacceptable risks to our national security.”

China has repeatedly accused the United States of abusing the concept of national security to oppress non-American companies. Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a press briefing that Beijing opposes the attempt to abuse the concept of national security and use its power to oppress specific companies of other countries.

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