TikTok has asked a federal court to stop Donald Trump’s ban of the app ahead of its September 27 deadline to complete a deal with Oracle and Walmart that meets government approval.
The motion for a preliminary injunction was filed on Wednesday in Washington D.C.after, a suit came on Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
TikTok is arguing that it has “made extraordinary efforts to try to satisfy the government’s ever-shifting demands and purported national security concerns, including through changes in the ownership and structure of [its] business, and [it is] continuing to do so.” TikTok is accusing Trump of exceeding his presidential power by ordering the ban, which it says was not “motivated by a genuine national security concern, but rather by political considerations relating to the upcoming general election.”
TikTok is facing a ban, first ordered by Trump on August 6, over security concerns on how data was handled. Parent company ByteDance is in the process of working out a deal with Oracle and Walmart that would allow the video app to continue to operate in the U.S. Trump has said that he would not approve a deal if ByteDance retains any of its ownership. Additionally, Chinese outlets are reporting that the Chinese government may not approve the Oracle deal.
The original deadline was September 20, which was extended by one week. If it takes effect, American users would be able to download the app onto their phones.
TikTok estimates that a prolonged shutdown of the app would devastate user numbers. They estimate that a ban lifted in two months would result in a 40-50% drop in users and that a prolonged ban lifted after six months could result in an 80-90% drop in daily users, effectively decimating the platform.
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