In response to the TikTok and WeChat ban signed by US President Trump, National Public Radio (NPR) quoted people familiar with the matter on August 8 and revealed that TikTok is planning to sue the Trump administration.
Also read: TikTok As Apple Of Discord In China – US War
NPR cited a person who was directly involved in the upcoming lawsuit. But he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the company. He said that TikTok will file a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration as soon as Tuesday. The person said that this lawsuit will be submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, because TikTok’s U.S. business headquarters is there.
In addition, NPR was informed that the lawsuit would consider the executive order signed by President Trump to be unconstitutional because it did not give the company a chance to respond. TikTok also believes that the ‘national security reasons’ in this executive order are groundless.
‘It’s based on pure speculation and conjecture’. The source emphasized that the Trump executive order was not based on any factual investigation results.
Gizchina News of the week
In response, NPR stated that the White House declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Trump vs TikTok (and China)
Trump signed an executive order on Auguste 6. He said that mobile apps TikTok and WeChat ‘posed a threat to U.S. national security’. So he will prohibit any business or individual under U.S. jurisdiction from conducting any transactions with TikTok parent company Bytedance after 45 days. This also refers to Tencent and its subsidiaries conduct transactions related to WeChat.
The simple and rude actions of the US government were denounced by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin as ‘naked hegemony’. At a regular press conference on the afternoon of August 7, Wang Wenbin stated that the United States will not hesitate to harm the rights and interests of the majority of American users and companies. It will override market principles and international rules for its own private interests. Also, it will willfully conduct political manipulation and suppression, which will eventually bear its own fruit. Wang Wenbin urged the US to correct its wrongdoing, refrain from politicizing economic problems and stop suppressing relevant companies.
ByteDance also issued a statement on the same day. It expressed desire to seek legal means to resist the unreasonable practices of the US government. ByteDance said that the latest executive order issued by the President of the United States did not follow due process of law. He was actually shocked by this. The statement held that the order set a dangerous precedent that violated freedom of expression and open markets. If the US government cannot treat it fairly, ByteDance will resort to the US courts.
