Tiktok files for injunction to overturn US app store ban
Tiktok has submitted a request to block President Donald Trump’s plans to ban downloads of the video platform from US app stores on Sunday.
The request, filed in a Washington district court yesterday, marks the latest attempt by the Chinese social media company to protect its service in the US in the face of a potential ban.
The preliminary injunction plea argues that the Trump administration’s plans to ban Tiktok downloads from both Apple and Google’s app stores “dramatically exceeds” US presidential and commerce department powers.
The mooted ban would not block existing users from accessing Tiktok’s services but would prevent them from receiving software updates, which would rapidly reduce the quality its service.
It comes as Titkok faces strict regulatory scrutiny across the globe over fears data harvested by the social media platform could be used for state spying in Beijing.
Tiktok has repeatedly denied the claims, and is close to closing off a restructuring deal with parent company Bytedance to appease the Trump administration and secure the continuation of operations within the US.
Under the deal, Bytedance is set to hand a minority stake to two US companies — Oracle and Walmart — who would both receive 20 per cent stakes in a new formation of the company called Tiktok Global.
Bytedance said the company would go public in a year’s time, after Trump on Monday said he would refuse to sign off on any deal in which Bytedance retained a stake in the app.
In a court filing yesterday Tiktok said it has “made extraordinary efforts to try to satisfy the government’s ever-shifting demands and purported national security concerns, including through changes in the ownership and structure of their business, and they are continuing to do so”.