TikTok Files Lawsuit Against Donald Trump Administration Against US Ban on Chinese Video-Sharing App

Washington, September 19: TikTok on Friday filed a complaint in Washington federal court against the United States President Donald Trump's executive order banning the Video sharing app. TikTok and its parent company Bytedance moved the court to block the Trump administration from enacting a ban. Oracle-TikTok Deal: Not Prepared to Sign Off on Any Deal Regarding the Sale of Chinese Video App, Says Donald Trump.

TikTok and the owner of the platform, ByteDance, asked a judge in the court to block the Trump administration's order.  The Chinese company also accused of Trump of exceeding his authority. As per the complaint, the ban on TikTok's operations violates First Amendment free-speech rights in the US.

The US Commerce Department on Friday said that as of Sunday, any moves to distribute or maintain TikTok on app stores such as Apple App Store and Google Play Store would be prohibited. It added that more extensive ban against the app would be applied from November 12. Oracle-TikTok Deal: US President Donald Trump Says Looking Into The Deal to Ensure No Compromise on National Security.

The US President and some politicians have repeatedly expressed speculation that TikTok poses a national security threat to the country, though no evidence has been provided to support the allegations. On August 6, Trump issued an executive order banning US transactions with ByteDance, citing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

On August 14, he signed a second executive order that will force ByteDance to sell or spin off its US TikTok business within 90 days. According to reports, US software company Oracle has emerged as a frontrunner in the bid to acquire TikTok's US operations from ByteDance.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 19, 2020 02:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).