TikTok seeks court review
The popular videosharing app TikTok, its future in limbo since President Trump tried to shut it down, is asking a federal court to intervene.
TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, has until Thursday to sell off its U. S. operations under an executive order that Trump signed in August.
In September, Trump gave his tentative blessing to a ByteDance proposal meant to resolve U. S. national security concerns by placing TikTok under the oversight of American companies Oracle of Redwood City and Walmart, each of which would also have a financial stake in the company. But TikTok said this week that it has received “no clarity” from the U. S. government about whether its proposals have been accepted.
The deal has been under a national security review by the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which is led by the Treasury Department. The department “remains focused” on resolving the alleged national security risks posed by TikTok, a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday evening.
With no extension of the Thursday deadline, TikTok said Tuesday, “We have no choice but to file a petition in court to defend our rights and those of our more than 1,500 employees” in the United States.
Trump has cited concerns that the Chinese government could spy on TikTok users if the app remains under Chinese ownership. TikTok has denied that it poses any security threat but said it is still trying to work with the administration to resolve its concerns.
The legal challenge is “a protection to ensure these discussions can take place,” the company said.
The Trump administration had earlier sought to ban the app from smartphone app stores and deprive it of vital technical services, but federal judges have so far blocked those actions.
TikTok is now looking to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review Trump’s divestment order and the government’s national security review.