TikTok has announced plans to appeal the executive order banning the app in the US. The lawsuit is expected to come this week.
The company is expected to claim the US government did not follow the necessary due process when it issued the motion in early August, Reuters reports. TikTok will also contest its classification by the White House as a national security threat, people familiar with the matter said.
The order bars US people and businesses from working with ByteDance, the China-based owner of TikTok, due to perceived threats to national security. The US gave ByteDance 90 days to sell its operations in the US, and Microsoft and Oracle have emerged as possible bidders.
A separate order issued at the same time targeted the app Wechat, owned by Tencent. A WeChat users group that says it isn’t affiliated with Tencent has filed a lawsuit in California against the Trump administration, seeking to block the executive order. They said the user alliance was formed by people who depend on WeChat in their business and personal lives.
The lawsuit alleges the ban violates WeChat users’ rights to free speech, due process and equal protection under law. Plaintiffs also contend the ban illegally targets Chinese-Americans, the Wall Street Journal reported.
