created on August 01, 2020 shows the logo of the social media video
sharing app Tiktok displayed on a tablet screen in Paris, and US
President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, on
July 30, 2020. JIM WATSON, Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP
The Trump administration on Monday appealed a federal
court ruling which allows TikTok to keep operating in the United
States despite a move to block the popular social media application
on national security grounds.
The Justice Department filed the appeal seeking to enforce a ban
on TikTok by President Donald Trump, who has argued that the app’s
Chinese parent company may use TikTok for espionage and to spread
disinformation.
The filing did not include arguments for enforcing the ban,
which had been rejected earlier this month by US District Judge
Carl Nichols and in a parallel case filed in Pennsylvania.
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Nichols said TikTok’s lawyers had demonstrated that the Commerce
Department likely overstepped its authority by seeking to ban the
popular social media app and “acted in an arbitrary and capricious
manner by failing to consider obvious alternatives.”
The White House claims TikTok is a national security risk
because of potential links to the Beijing government through its
Chinese owner ByteDance.
Trump’s order said the action was necessary to “protect our
national security” and claimed the personal data of TikTok users
could be used by Beijing.
TikTok has repeatedly defended itself against allegations of
data transfers to the Chinese government, saying it stores user
information on servers in the United States and Singapore.
TikTok has a further fight on its hands over an August 14
executive order from Trump to force ByteDance to sell its US
operations to an American buyer.
AFP