Published 19:55 IST, August 7th 2020
TikTok warns of legal action against US over Trump's executive order
TikTok has said it was 'shocked' by the executive order issued by President Donald Trump and has threatened to take legal action and pursue the matter in court.
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TikTok has said it was 'shocked' by the executive order issued by the US President Donald Trump and has threatened to take legal action and pursue the matter in court. TikTok has accused the US government of interfering in talks between two private businesses and also said that it tried to engage with the administration in good faith but all in vain. This comes after Donald Trump on August 6 signed an executive order banning American citizens and businesses from doing any transaction with Chinese-owned application TikTok, its parent company ByteDance Ltd. and messaging app WeChat after 45 days.
"The text of the decision makes it plain that there has been a reliance on unnamed "reports" with no citations, fears that the app 'maybe' used for misinformation campaigns with no substantiation of such fears, and concerns about the collection of data that is industry standard for thousands of mobile apps around the world. The order sets a dangerous precedent for the concept of free expression and open markets. We will pursue all remedies available to us in order to ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and our users are treated fairly – if not by the Administration, then by the US courts," said TikTok in its statement.
Trump's order against TikTok
Trump in his executive order stated that these steps have been taken because the applications mentioned above threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. Trump has accused the Chinese-owned apps of storing personal data of American citizens and possibly sharing it with the Chinese Communist Party. Trump in his order further accused TikTok of censoring content, especially those that the CPC deems politically sensitive, content related to Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, China's treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xijiang province, etc.
Meanwhile, WeChat has said that it was reviewing the executive order. WeChat owner Tencent, a gaming company that also owns several popular video games has said that it was reviewing the order to get a full understanding. The executive order has been signed by Trump amid increasing scrutiny that the Chinese-owned app TikTok is facing in the United States and across the world. Tech giant Microsoft is reportedly in talks with ByteDance Ltd. TikTok's parent company, regarding sales of its operations in the US. Trump has set an ultimatum for the companies to reach an agreement by September 15. On August 6, US Senate unanimously passed a bill barring federal employees from keeping TikTok in government devices.
19:56 IST, August 7th 2020