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The war between TikTok and Donald Trump’s administration continues to rage on. This weekend, TikTok and its parent company ByteDance announced their plans to sue the Trump administration over plans to ban the app in the United States with an executive order.
The U.S. government currently characterizes TikTok as a “mass surveillance and propaganda” facilitator and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the United States is considering banning the app altogether because of the security risk.
“Even though we strongly disagree with the [Trump] administration’s concerns, for nearly a year we have sought to engage in good faith to provide a constructive solution,” the company said in a statement, via Complex.
“What we encountered instead was a lack of due process as the administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses. To ensure that the rule of law prevails and that our company and users are treated fairly, we have no choice but to challenge the executive order through the judicial system.”
Microsoft and Twitter have expressed interest in purchasing the app as the controversies continue to build.
TikTok is based in Beijing and owned by the tech company ByteDance. 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.
