TikTok has confirmed that it plans to file a lawsuit
challenging President Trump’s August 6 executive order banning transactions with the platform and demanding that parent company ByteDance divest its U.S. TikTok operations.
If the suit
is filed on Monday, as some reports suggest is possible, it will coincide with the opening day of the Republican National Convention.
“Even though we strongly disagree with the
administration’s concerns, for nearly a year we have sought to engage in good faith to provide a constructive solution,” TikTok spokesman Josh Gartner said in a statement to The Verge. “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 is not discarded and that our company and users are
treated fairly, we have no choice but to challenge the Executive Order through the judicial system.”
The Aug. 6 order had an effective date of 45 days. On Aug. 14, Trump issued another
executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations.
Microsoft has been in talks to acquire those operations, and Oracle is now reportedly doing the same.
Republicans intend to stress Trump’s supposed “tough on China” stance during this week’s convention.
Trump has now said that he will stop the U.S. from doing any
business at all with China “if they don’t treat us right,” according to a transcript from a Trump interview on Fox Sunday night cited by Businessweek.