Short-form video platform TikTok announced that it is suing the US government in response to the Executive Order which will ban transactions with the company in the US.
TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, a tech giant which also owns TikTok’s Chinese counterpart, Douyin. Trump’s ban comes after concerns among his administration about the Chinese government seizing US users’ data.
“The Executive Order issued by the Administration on August 6, 2020 has the potential to strip the rights of the TikTok community without any evidence to justify such an extreme action, and without any due process. TikTok strongly disagree with the Administration’s position that TikTok is a national security threat.”
TikTok’s official announcement
Over the past month, several US tech companies, including Microsoft, Twitter and Oracle, have shown their interest in acquiring some of TikTok’s operations outside China. However, none have indicated that a deal is close to being reached.
Amid these tensions, TikTok announced that it will open its first European data centre in Ireland.
