Though TikTok is a relatively new social media platform, it has taken the world by storm. Millions of users around the world go on the app to create their own content or view others' videos. Gaming companies such as PlayStation have been using the platform to advertise, but the recent motion to ban the app in the US may stop this from continuing and will land the country's government in a lawsuit with the social media platform.
The United States isn't the first country to ban TikTok. In June, India banned the social media platform along with other Chinese-based apps after rising tensions that have been growing between it and China. India cited security risks with the app as reasons for the ban, which the US also brought up when the executive order was signed. However, the US has other circumstances that have opened the government up to this lawsuit.
On June 6, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would ban the company Bytedance, which owns TikTok, from making transactions in the country. The ban will go into effect on September 20, so Bytedance will have until then to operate within the US. While the company is looking to sell TikTok's US operations to another company like Microsoft or Twitter so the platform may continue in the country, the September deadline that Trump set may arrive too quickly. Because of this, Bytedance will be bringing a lawsuit against the US government since the president's administration failed to give the company a chance to respond.
President Trump also has a personal vendetta against the social media platform as well. Many TikTok users started a movement to register for tickets to a Trump Presidential rally, and thousands of people signed up to attend. However, these individuals never intended to go to the rally, so the false numbers threw off the Trump campaign. The administration hasn't commented on the lawsuit, but members of the administration have commented on the executive order being enacted with US national security in mind.
If this ban goes into action, each US citizen will be fined $300,000 for each individual business transaction with Bytedance. This means that the company would have trouble procuring lawyers or selling TikTok to an American company, so hopefully this lawsuit will allow Bytedance to continue its efforts to sell the social media platform so US citizens can still enjoy the app for themselves.
Source: NPR