Beijing, Aug 23: Chinese-based video-sharing app TikTok says it will sue the administration of US President Donald Trump over the latter’s executive order banning transactions with the parent company ByteDance.
The lawsuit will be filed as early as the start of next week, ByteDance said in a statement, accusing the Trump administration of attempts to meddle in private business negotiations.
“To ensure that the rule of law prevails and that our company and users are treated fairly, we have no choice but to challenge the Executive Order through the judicial system,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement quoted by CNBC on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to ban TikTok and WeChat by September 15 if they are not sold to a US company, triggering a lawsuit from TikTok owner ByteDance and sparking further diplomatic tensions with China.
ByteDance is currently in talks with Microsoft and Oracle on the possible sale of TikTok. According to US media reports, Microsoft has emerged as the main bidder for TikTok while Twitter has also held talks with ByteDance.
Earlier this week, the Soufan Group said in a report that TikTok does threaten personal privacy by collecting data such as a user’s location and phone contact lists, but that can also be said of US-based applications such as Twitter and Facebook.
(AGENCIES)
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