TikTok Responds to Trump’s Executive Order
TikTok has responded to President Donald Trump's executive order, which attempts to ban the popular video app through the enforcement of strict sanctions.
"For nearly a year, we have sought to engage with the U.S. government in good faith to provide a constructive solution to the concerns that have been expressed," TikTok said in a statement to USA Today. "What we encountered instead was that the Administration paid no attention to facts, dictated terms of an agreement without going through standard legal processes, and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses."
The company also seemingly threatened legal action.
"We will pursue all remedies available to us in order to ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and our users are treated fairly – if not by the Administration, then by the U.S. courts," the statement concluded.
TikTok previously addressed the possibility of an executive order from Trump. The company is currently in talks with Microsoft regarding the purchase their global business.
On Thursday (August 6), Trump invoked his emergency powers and signed an executive order ordering the outlawing of any transactions between ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, and U.S. citizens and businesses. The order is purported to protect national security and, in practice, would make it impossible for the app to receive advertising from American companies, putting it at risk to be removed from U.S.-based app stores.
However, the move can be blocked if TikTok is purchased by an American company by September 15, 2020.
Along with the executive order against TikTok, Trump issued a similar order to Tencent, the Chinese-based company that owns WeChat.