Chinese social media outlet TikTok formally filed legal papers on Wednesday (September 23, 2020) seeking a temporary ruling from a U.S. federal judge to prevent the Trump administration from asking companies like Apple and Google to remove its app from mobile app stores starting this Sunday, citing violations of freedom of speech protected under the U.S. Constitution.
President Trump said last Saturday that he supports in principle an agreement between U.S. company Oracle and Walmart to acquire TikTok and take control of its U.S. operations. Later that day, the Commerce Department announced a one-week delay in the implementation of an order that would have banned downloads of TikTok (Jitterbug Overseas) starting Sept. 21.
But TikTok’s Chinese parent company, Byte Jumping, said this week that it would own 80 percent of the new company after TikTok and the U.S. company create a new one under an agreement.
Since then, President Trump appears to have reversed his previous statement that he supports the agreement in principle. He said on Fox News on Monday that his administration would not approve the agreement if BytePlus had any control over the new company.
Last Sunday, a federal judge issued a temporary ruling blocking Trump from requiring companies like Apple and Google to remove WeChat from mobile app stores starting at midnight Monday, just before a Commerce Department-announced injunction against another Chinese social media, WeChat, was set to take effect.
The Commerce Department has said it will appeal that ruling.
The Trump administration has said that WeChat and TikTok threaten U.S. national security by collecting large amounts of personal information about Americans that may be shared with Chinese government agencies.
China rejects the U.S. allegations of security threats and condemns the U.S. as “bullying” and a violation of international trade standards.
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