TikTok to initiate legal action against Trump over ban

The US president’s executive order prohibits transactions with TikTok's owner ByteDance from mid-September 2020. Officials in Washington are concerned that the company could pass data on American users to the Chinese government, something ByteDance has denied doing, according to BBC.

So far, the short video-sharing app has 80 million active US users.

TikTok says it has tried to engage with the Mr Trump's administration for nearly a year but has encountered a lack of response. The Chinese video app company expects the legal action to begin this week, says BBC Business reporter Vivienne Nunis. On August 21, 2020, a group of Chinese Americans filed a separate lawsuit against the president's similar ban on the social media app WeChat, which is owned by the Tencent.

The US is not the only country to introduce blocks on TikTok. India has banned use of the app, and Australia is also considering acting.