TikTok has confirmed it filed a complaint in US federal court in San Francisco challenging the government's order to ban the app in the US as unconstitutional. The company said there was no evidence to justify such an "extreme action" and it was being denied due process to defend its interests due to political interests. TikTok repeated again that it is not a threat to national security in the US.
In a statement, TikTok said it made extensive efforts to convince the government of its security and privacy protections, but these were ignored. While the US is concerned the app may be used by the Chinese state to access personal or commercial information on US subjects, TikTok said it has taken "extraordinary measures to protect the privacy and security of TikTok’s US user data". This includes storing the data outside China, at data centres in the US and Singapore, and erecting software barriers that keep US user data separately from that of other ByteDance products.
TikTok noted further that its CEO, Global Chief Security Officer and General Counsel are all Americans based in the US, "and therefore are not subject to Chinese law". US content moderation is likewise led by a US-based team and operates independently from China.
The company's efforts were disclosed in detail during the national security review started last year by the US of TikTok's acquisition of Musical.ly, the company said. Despite the acquisition taking place in 2017 and Musical.ly having little business in the US, TikTok said it was contacted in 2019 by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US with questions about the deal. On 30 July this year, the CFIUS issued its opinion in the case, saying it had identified national security risks that could not be mitigated. TikTok said the "CFIUS letter was principally based on outdated news articles, failed to address the voluminous documentation that Plaintiffs had provided demonstrating the security of TikTok user data, and was flawed in numerous other respects".
The company's main defence against the executive order is an alleged violation of its right to due legal process under the US Constitution's fifth amendment. Furthermore, the company claims the order does not show evidence of "an unusual and extraordinary threat," as required by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act under which the US President is purportedly acting. The company accused the government of "heavily politicised" decisions, underlined by President Trump's demands for payment for helping to broker a sale of TikTok's US operations.
TikTok claims over 100 million users in the US. The company said it has more than 1,500 employees in the country, and "10,000 more jobs planned" in California, Texas, New York, Tennessee, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, and Washington State. Furthermore, many of the country's leading brands are on TikTok to connect with consumers.
