We've seen President Trump take a few shots at TikTok over the past month, threatening to ban the app in the US if its not sold soon, and now TikTok has fired back.
TikTok announced today that it's filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. "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."
In its complaint, TikTok argues that the administration has ignored due process and has not acted in good faith. There's been no evidence submitted that TikTok is an actual threat, the company says, nor has there been any justification for the administration's punitive actions.
"The executive order is not rooted in bona fide national security concerns," TikTok says in its complaint. "Independent national security and information security experts have criticized the political nature of this executive order, and expressed doubt as to whether its stated national security objective is genuine."
TikTok also argues that the Trump administration has ignored the company's efforts to address privacy concerns, like storing US user data outside of China and creating software barriers to keep that data separate from other ByteDance products. TikTok points to things like having its CEO, Global Chief Security Officer, and General Counsel all be Americans based in the US as evidence that it's committed to the US market.
The complaint goes on to claim that TikTok worked with the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) for nearly a year to provide info on TikTok's security measures to ensure US user data is safeguarded and can't be access by unauthorized people outside the US, but that that was disregarded by the administration.
Trump recently issued a new executive order stating that TikTok's US business must be sold by November 12 or it would be banned, claiming that there is "credible evidence" that TikTok owner ByteDance "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States." Microsoft has said that it's in discussions to buy TikTok's US business and that it's aiming to complete those discussions by September 15.