TikTok challenges US national security claims, calls ban unlawful
- ByteDance describes order as arbitrary and capricious, asks judge to grant a request to stop it
- US commerce secretary said in September that by November 12, if TikTok did not resolve the national security concerns, the app would be shut down
TikTok returned to federal court in Washington on Friday to challenge claims made by the US government as Washington tries to ban the popular video sharing app.
TikTok’s owner, Beijing-based ByteDance, in a rebuttal, called the Trump administration’s order “unlawful”, “arbitrary” and “capricious” and again asked Judge Carl Nichols to grant its request to stop the ban from taking effect on November 12.
The filings were in response to an objection made by the US government last week asking the judge to allow the ban, saying TikTok failed to prove “irreparable harm” as the result of the restrictions.
“The government’s strained argument that no irreparable harm has been proven – despite the commerce secretary’s pronouncement that the effect of the remaining prohibitions would be to ‘shut down’ TikTok – is difficult to take seriously,” TikTok’s lawyers said on Friday.
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US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in September that by November 12, if TikTok did not resolve the national security concerns, the app would be “for all practical purposes, shut down”.