By Rashi Jain-
On Tuesday, Chinese social media giant ‘TikTok’ filed a lawsuit against the United States Government under Trump Administration in Federal Court. The lawsuit is filed against Trump Administration’s recent Executive Order dated August 06, 2020, which blocked the app from operating in the United States.
In the official statement by TikTok, the officials mentioned that “Now is the time for us to act. We do not take suing the government lightly, however, we feel like we have no choice but to take action to protect our rights and the rights of our community and employees.”
In recent times, Trump Administration has issued 2 Executive Orders against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance. The first Executive Order dated 6th August bans US transactions with Tiktokand WeChat (Chinese Social media app) within 45 days declaring these apps the threat to national security. Meanwhile, the Second Executive Order dated 14th August gives ByteDance 90 days to divests its assets from American states and any data that is gathered in the U.S.
TikTok described the first Executive Order in an official statement as the “potential order to strip the rights of the community without any evidence to justify such an extreme action, and without any due process.” The statements also highlighted TikTok’sdisagreement with the Administration’s position that the app is a national security threat.
The statement also highlighted the following reasons for suing the Trump Administration;
Firstly, the complaint mentions that the Administration has ignored the company’s extensive efforts to address its concerns. Extensive efforts to protect the privacy and security of the U.S. user’s data.
Secondly, it stated that the Administration ignored the great lengths that Tiktok has gone to in order to demonstrate the company’s commitment to serving the U.S. market, marking that the U.S. based team which lead the TikTok’s operations in the U.S. operates independently from China.
Thirdly, the statement highlighted that TikTok was deprived of due process, “By banning TikTok with no notice or opportunity to be heard (whether before or after the fact), the Executive Order violated the due process protections of the Fifth Amendment.”
Finally, it mentions that the Executive Order misused Emergency power, which authorizes the US president to intervene in economic matters in order to respond to an emergency national security concerns. The order, however, has to be related to a formally declared emergency, as required by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). TikToksaid in its blog, “Not only does the Executive Order ignore due process, but it also authorizes the prohibition of activities that have not been found to be an unusual and extraordinary threat.”
For Further Read: President Trump signed executive orders to ban TikTok and WeChat