TikTok pleads with Trump administration over severe US ban

“We have far the preference for constructive dialogue over litigation,” TikTok said in a blog post announcing the case. “But the Executive Order threatens to ban our U.S. operations – eliminating the creation of 10,000 U.S. jobs and irreparably detrimental to the millions of Americans who turn to this app for entertainment, connectivity and legitimate living conditions that are essential, especially during the pandemic – we simply have no choice. “

The legal challenge of TikTok reflects a high-stakes, last-ditch effort to avoid a severe ban by the Trump administration, which gave the company until Sept. 20 to address concerns that the app “could give the Chinese Communist Party access” to the personal and proprietary information – potentially enabling China to track the locations of federal employees and contractors, build personal information files for extortion, and conduct corporate espionage. “

TikTok has previously said that it stores data about its US users in the United States and in Singapore, and that it would deny any request from the Chinese government for US user data.

The complaint cited Trump’s anti-China rhetoric, including his repeated references to the novel coronavirus as the “China virus” and “Kung flu.”

“The president’s actions clearly reflect a political decision to campaign on an anti-China platform,” TikTok’s complaint said.

For weeks, the US Committee on Foreign Investment has been analyzing TikTok and its potential risks to US security. In its blog post, TikTok claimed that CFIUS “reversed its decision within five minutes of its deadline” and concluded that it had identified national security risks in TikTok.

“The CFIUS letter was in principle based on outdated news articles, failed to address the bulky documentation that Plaintiff had provided to prove the security of TikTok user data, and was deficient in several other respects,” the complaint said. of TikTok.

TikTok also claimed that Trump’s justification for his executive order required the same emergency law he cited in an earlier executive order directed at Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications company. But Tiktok is nothing like Huawei, the company claimed.

“TikTok Inc. is not a telecommunications provider and it provides the types of technology and services considered by the 2019 Executive Order,” the complaint said.

Robert Chesney, a professor of national security law at the University of Texas-Austin, said the chances of TikTok’s success are not very high on their argument for the reasoning process – although the legal challenge may still be capable of delays in the prohibition to do so.

“Getting the lawsuit was delayed long enough so that Joe Biden wins [the election] could be their whole game, “said Chesney. But, he added,” I think it’s unlikely that the delay strategy will achieve anything. I do not think Joe Biden will withdraw the executive order. They will be very hawkish about China. “
– Selina Wang of CNN contributed reporting.