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TikTok is fighting back against Donald Trump and this weekend’s proposed ban that would prevent the app from being downloaded in the United States after Sunday, September 27. In order to do so, the popular social media app has filed legal action.
The company claims that Trump’s proposed ban was motivated “by political considerations relating to the upcoming general election,” according to Variety.
“There is simply no genuine emergency here that would justify the government’s precipitous actions,” TikTok said in the motion. “And there is no plausible reason to insist the prohibitions be enforced immediately.”
As for whether the legal motion will be successful, the Justice Department has a full week to respond to the motion so it could at least buy TikTok a few extra days in the app stores.
TikTok is currently working to complete a sale to American buyers.
TikTok is based in Beijing and has been deemed a national security risk. It has been downloaded over 110 million times in the United States.
The company, however, claims that its servers are based out of China and that they are committed to transparency for its users. The app is also not available within China.
“At TikTok, we take these issues incredibly seriously as well. We are committed to transparency and accountability in how we support our TikTok users in the US and around the world,” the statement from TikTok read. “TikTok does not remove content based on sensitivities related to China. We have never been asked by the Chinese government to remove any content and we would not do so if asked. Period.”
TikTok was first launched in 2017 and is available for download on iOS and Android devices. Earlier this year, TikTok hit one billion downloads globally with the app available in over 150 markets and 75 languages.
