TikTok asks court to intervene as Trump’s order looms – World News

Photo: The Canadian Press

FILE – This February 25, 2020 file photo shows the TikTok icon in New York. The popular TikTok video-sharing app, its future in limbo since President Donald Trump tried to shut it down earlier this fall, is asking a federal court to intervene. “With the November 12 CFIUS deadline looming and no extension in hand, we have no choice but to petition our court to defend our rights and those of our more than 1,500 US employees,” TikTok said in a written statement Tuesday. , November 11, 2020 (AP Photo / File)

The popular TikTok video-sharing app, its future in limbo since President Donald Trump tried to shut it down earlier this fall, is asking a federal court to intervene.

TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has until Thursday to sell its U.S. operations under an executive order signed by Trump in August.

Trump in September gave his tentative blessing on a ByteDance proposal aimed at solving US national security problems by placing TikTok under the oversight of US companies Oracle and Walmart, each of which would also have a financial stake in the company. But TikTok said this week that it has received “no clarity” from the US government that its proposals have been accepted.

The deal has undergone a national security review by the United States Inter-agency Foreign Investment Committee, or CFIUS, led by the Department of the Treasury. This week the Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment sent by email.

“With the November 12 CFIUS deadline looming and no extension in hand, we have no choice but to petition our court to defend our rights and those of our more than 1,500 US employees,” TikTok said in a written statement Tuesday. .

Trump cited concern that the Chinese government might spy on TikTok users if the app remains Chinese-owned. TikTok denied that this is a security threat, but said it is still trying to work with the administration to resolve its concerns.

The legal challenge is “a protection to ensure these discussions can take place,” the company said.

The Trump administration had previously tried to ban the app from smartphone app stores and deprive it of vital technical services, but federal judges have so far blocked such actions.

TikTok is now looking to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review Trump’s divestment order and the government’s national security review.