WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2020) The Chinese company ByteDance and itsvideo sharing platform TikTok have taken legal action in court to challenge the US government restrictions on the download of its services in the United States, according to a court document.
"The plaintiffs are entitled to preliminary injunctive relief enjoining the implementation or enforcement of the executive order issued on August 6, 2020," TikTok and ByteDance said in the court document filed against President Donald Trump and the US Commerce Department.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, acting on the White House's instruction, had said that downloads of TikTok and WeChat - another social media application run by China's Tencent - will be restricted from Apple's Playstore and Android's Google Play beginning on September 20.
Tencent has not filed any legal action against the Trump administration.
ByteDance and TikTom legal action asking the court to block the White House order on its application came as they dropped a lawsuit filed earlier against Trump, Ross and the Commerce Department for violating their right to due process.
Trump's ban of TikTok was set for September 20, but has been postponed to November 12 as the administration offered the company a way out by being acquired by a US entity. The US president said software firm Oracle and retail giant Walmart were in final talks for control of TikTok's equity and technology. However, ByteDance has insisted on maintaining an 80 percent stake in the restructured US version of TikTok.
