TikTok Sues U.S. Government Over Trump Ban

[ThinkingSapien]

TikTok Sues U.S. Government Over Trump Ban ​

TikTok Sues U.S. Government Over Trump Ban (Published 2020)

The suit escalates a bitter back-and-forth between the popular video app and American officials.

www.nytimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO — TikTok sued the U.S. government on Monday, accusing the Trump administration of depriving it of due process when President Trump used his emergency economic powers to issue an executive order that will block the app from operating in the country.

The suit, which was filed in the Federal District Court for the Central District of California, represents TikTok’s most direct challenge to the White House and escalates an increasingly bitter back-and-forth between the popular video app and American officials.

President Trump has repeatedly said that TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance, poses a national security threat because of its Chinese ties. On Aug. 6, he issued twin executive orders banning transactions with TikTok and Chinese social media app WeChat within 45 days. A week later, he issued a separate executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to divest from its American assets and any data that TikTok had gathered in the United States.

“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,” the company said in its suit. “Our more than 1,500 employees across the U.S. pour their hearts into building this platform every day," the company said, noting that it planned to hire more than 10,000 more workers across eight states in the coming years.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

WeChat users group sues Trump administration over ban it says is unconstitutional​

WeChat users group sues Trump administration over ban it says is unconstitutional

The lawsuit also argues that the ban targets Chinese-Americans

www.theverge.com

A group of WeChat users is suing the Trump administration over the president’s executive order banning transactions with the app, The Wall Street Journal reported. The group isn’t affiliated with WeChat or its owner Tencent, but seeks to block the president’s August 6th order which the group says is unconstitutional because it violates users’ due process and free speech rights, according to the Journal.

The lawsuit also argues that the ban targets Chinese-Americans. “It is the primary app Chinese-speakers in the U.S. use to participate in social life by connecting with loved ones, sharing special moments, arguing ideas, receiving up-to-the minute news, and participating in political discussions and advocacy,” the lawsuit states, and has “become essential to the conduct of daily life for its users, many of whom regularly spend hours each day on the app.”

President Trump’s executive order explicitly blocks “any transaction that is related to WeChat.” There’s been significant confusion about the ban, which is set to take effect next month, because of its broad language. It was one of a pair of executive orders the president signed which targeted Chinese companies, the other blocked all transactions with ByteDance, the parent company of video-sharing app TikTok. Both orders invoke the Emergency Economic Powers Act and the National Emergencies Act.

“WeChat, like TikTok… may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the Chinese Communist Party,” Trump’s order against WeChat states. Both WeChat and TikTok have maintained they are not security risks.
[…]