Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Photo: Chesnot/Getty Images
TikTok is suing the Trump administration over the president's executive order to ban the app unless it's sold to a U.S. company, arguing it's no security threat and that it was deprived due process.
Why it matters: There are bipartisan concerns that TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, could share U.S. user data with Beijing. TikTok has lobbied aggressively to dispel those accusations and now says the executive order is invalid because the government has failed to prove that point.
Driving the news: In a blog post Monday, TikTok says it is filing a complaint in a federal court Monday to protect its users, creators and advertisers that would be impacted by the ban.
- "Put simply, we have a thriving community and we are grateful — and responsible — to them," the company writes. "[W]e have no choice but to take action to protect our rights, and the rights of our community and employees. "
The complaint makes several key arguments. According to TikTok...
- The administration ignored its efforts to prove it doesn't share U.S. user data.
- The order ignores due process, banning activities that don't clearly pose the sort of "unusual and extraordinary threat" the president needs to invoke the emergency powers underpinning the order.
- The order misapplies those powers because TikTok isn't a telecom provider. The order relies on an emergency the president declared last year aimed at keeping Chinese telecom firms like Huawei out of U.S. networks and supply chains.
Be smart: The complaint doesn't directly challenge a second executive order stemming from a Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) ruling that TikTok's parent ByteDance must divest its 2017 acquisition of Musical.ly, widely seen as the mechanism for TikTok's U.S. operations to be transferred to an American firm.
- The complaint does, however, assert that TikTok made a year-long effort "in good faith" to provide the administration with the information requested to assess the transaction, but that it was "disregarded."
- "CFIUS rushed out its decision within five minutes of its deadline," the complaint alleges.
Sources tell Axios that TikTok fears the order is so vaguely written that, even if TikTok were to sell to a U.S. company to avoid the ban, the administration could still try to shut down the app post-sale.
- Nevertheless, the lawsuit isn't expected to directly impact deal talks.