TikTok to sue Trump administration over crackdown

Popular video app TikTok said on Saturday it would take Donald Trump's administration to court to challenge its administration's crackdown on the Chinese popular public service, which Washington claims it does a threat to national security.

As tensions rise between the world's two largest economies, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 6 giving Americans 45 days to suspend business with ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok. which effectively set a deadline for the potential pressured selling of viral video sensation to an American company.

TikTok said in a statement, "Even though we strongly disagree with the Administration's concerns, for nearly a year we have sought to engage in good faith to provide a constructive solution. What we encountered instead was a lack of due process as the Administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses."

"To ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and users are treated fairly, we have no choice but to challenge the Executive Order through the judicial system."

Trump claims that TikTok could be used by China to track the whereabouts of federal employees, blackmail people and conduct corporate espionage.

The company says it has never provided any US user data to the Chinese government, and Beijing has accused Trump's crackdown of being political.

The US move comes ahead of the November 3 election, in which Trump, who is behind Biden in the polls, is campaigning hard on a strong anti-Beijing message.

Oracle - whose chairman Larry Ellison has raised millions of dollars for Trump - was reportedly weighing bids for TikTok operations in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The Trump administration has also given ByteDance a 90-day deadline to divest in the app before banning it in the US.