Security News > 2020 > September > TikTok Urges Court to Block Trump's Ban on App in US
TikTok is urging a federal court to block US President Donald Trump from banning the video app, arguing the move is motivated by election politics rather than legitimate national security concerns.
The Chinese-owned app - which is wildly popular in the US - has come under fire as tensions escalate between Beijing and Washington, with Trump threatening a ban if it is not sold to an American company.
A deal to restructure ownership of the app was thrown into doubt Monday when Trump vowed to block a deal that allows its Chinese parent firm ByteDance to retain any control.
TikTok would suffer "Devastating harm" from which it could not recover if Trump's ban is found to be unlawful, the motion argued.
As US relations with China grew more contentious, Trump began targeting TikTok, the filing read. The motion also speculated that TikTok had irked the president because of reports the app was used by his critics to snatch up tickets to a Trump rally in Tulsa to which they had no intention of going - an event which belly flopped with significantly fewer people in attendance.