TikTok may challenge US order banning transactions with app: Reports

Chinese-owned short video sharing platform TikTok may challenge US President Donald Trump's order banning transactions with the app and its parent company ByteDance. Donald Trump on August 6 had signed an executive order banning American citizens and businesses from doing any transaction with TikTok and ByteDance Ltd., effective after 45 days from the date of signing the order. Media reports now suggest that ByteDance is planning to challenge the order in the US court, arguing that it deprives the company of due process. As per reports, the video-sharing platform will also contest its classification as a national security threat. 

Read: Estonia's Information System Authority Bans Employees From Downloading TikTok

Trump's order against TikTok

Donald Trump on August 14 issued another executive order that gave ByteDance 90 days to shut down or sell the US operations of TikTok. Trump in his order accused the company of stealing personal data of millions of American citizens and possibly sharing it with the Chinese Communist Party. Trump also accused the company of censoring content at the behest of CCP, particularly those related to Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and China's treatment of Uighur Muslims. According to reports, Microsoft and Oracle are in talks with ByteDance to buy shares of TikTok, the deal which is expected to be finalised before September 15. 

Read: Donald Trump Says Oracle A Good Company, Could Take Over TikTok In US

According to reports, the possible lawsuit by TikTok pertaining to August 6 order will not prevent ByteDance from having to divest the American operations of the app because the latter was part of the August 20 order, which is not subject to judicial review. TikTok on August 17 launched a new information hub in order to address the misinformation being spread about the company. The company in a release titled 'Setting the record straight' said that it has never shared user data with anyone and also informed that it stores data of American citizens in Virginia, with a back-up in Singapore.

Read: Trump Gets Verified Account On TikTok's Main Competitor 'Triller' Amid US-China Tensions

The clarification was in response to the claims made against the company in the recent past, particularly by the US President Donald Trump, who had accused it of stealing and sharing data. The scrutiny of TikTok in the United States started after tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated in the past few months. 

Read: TikTok Launches New Information Hub To Target Misinformation Regarding Data Theft

(Image Credit: PTI)