TikTok v. Trump

Last updated

TikTok v. Trump
Seal of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.png
Court United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Full case nameTikTok, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al.
Case history
Related action(s) U.S. WeChat Users Alliance v. Trump

TikTok v. Trump was a lawsuit before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia filed in September 2020 by TikTok as a challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order of August 6, 2020. The order prohibited the usage of TikTok in five stages, the first being the prohibition of downloading the application. On September 27, 2020, a preliminary injunction was issued by Judge Carl J. Nichols blocking enforcement of that executive order. [1] The lawsuit, by then captioned TikTok v. Biden, was dismissed in July 2021, following the Biden Administration's rescission of the executive order.

Contents

Background

TikTok, a social media networking platform owned by ByteDance and based in Beijing, China, [2] received criticism by the Trump administration about the data it collects and the security threat it allegedly poses. In June 2020, TikTok was criticized for accessing the clipboard content on their users' iOS devices, a feature the company said it had plans to cease. TikTok argued this feature was set up as an "anti-spam" measure but removed the feature regardless. [3] The Trump Administration restricted the use of TikTok within the United States government and military, instructing officials to delete the application from devices owned by the government. [4] [5] [6]

On July 7, 2020, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that he was considering a ban on TikTok in the United States. On July 31, Donald Trump told reporters that he would be banning TikTok's operations in the United States, rejecting a potential deal where ByteDance would sell a majority stake in TikTok to an American tech company such as Microsoft. [7] Trump reversed this position a few days later, announcing on August 3 that TikTok had until September 15 to sell a majority of its holdings to a company based in the United States. He stipulated, however, that the United States Department of the Treasury would have to receive a "substantial amount of money" from the deal, attributing TikTok's success to operations in the United States and arguing that TikTok owed the United States government for this success. [8]

On August 6, 2020, Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13942, directing the Secretary of Commerce to prohibit any and all transactions with ByteDance under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. To invoke the act, Trump also declared a national emergency based on the information TikTok collects. [9] The order gave ByteDance until November 12, 45 days after the issuing of the order, to sell a majority portion of the company to an American company. [10] On November 13, Trump extended the deadline to November 27, [11] and then to December 4. [10]

Back on August 24, 2020, TikTok announced that it was filing suit against Trump and alleged that the ban violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. [12] On September 13, TikTok announced that it would attempt to make a deal to sell the company to American tech company Oracle, removing speculation that the company could be bought by Microsoft. [13] [14] The Department of Commerce banned new downloads of TikTok on September 18, removing it from application stores a few days after. [15]

Proceedings

TikTok filed their initial complaint on September 18, 2020, in the District of Columbia district court. On September 23, TikTok also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against Trump's order, which was granted in part and denied in part by Judge Carl J. Nichols on September 27. In his memorandum opinion, Judge Nichols concluded that TikTok was likely to succeed on the merits, because "informational materials" are transferred on the application. Irreparable harm was also shown due to the potential competitive losses suffered by TikTok if the ban were to be enacted. Judge Nichols also found that the government's interest was insufficient to warrant a full ban of TikTok. [16] [17]

On December 7, 2020, three days after the deadline to sell the company had passed, Nichols fully blocked Trump's request to ban TikTok in the United States. The judge argued that Trump's emergency economic powers did not suffice to operate an arbitrary ban on a mobile app. [18] On July 21, 2021, following new President Joe Biden's decision to rescind President Trump's executive order, the lawsuit (then captioned TikTok v. Biden) was dismissed by joint stipulation of the parties. [19] [20]

Related Research Articles

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is an inter-agency committee in the United States government that reviews the national security implications of foreign investments in U.S. companies or operations, using classified information from the United States Intelligence Community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Emergency Economic Powers Act</span> United States federal law

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Title II of Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law  95–223, 91 Stat. 1626, enacted October 28, 1977, is a United States federal law authorizing the president to regulate international commerce after declaring a national emergency in response to any unusual and extraordinary threat to the United States which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States. The act was signed by President Jimmy Carter on December 28, 1977.

Kevin A. Mayer is an American business executive. He is currently the co-founder and co-CEO of Candle Media. He was briefly CEO of TikTok, and COO of its parent company ByteDance. Prior to joining TikTok, he was a senior executive at Disney for more than 15 years, including as head of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Gallagher (American politician)</span> American politician (born 1984)

Michael John Gallagher is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 8th congressional district for the Republican Party between 2017 and 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ByteDance</span> Chinese internet technology company

ByteDance Ltd. is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Haidian, Beijing and incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brendan Carr (lawyer)</span> American lawyer (born 1979)

Brendan Thomas Carr is an American lawyer who has served as a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) since 2017. Appointed to the position by Donald Trump, Carr previously served as the agency's general counsel and as an aide to FCC commissioner Ajit Pai. In private practice, Carr formerly worked as a telecommunications attorney at Wiley Rein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TikTok</span> Video-focused social media platform

TikTok, whose mainland Chinese counterpart is Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from three seconds to 60 minutes. It can be accessed with a smart phone app.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl J. Nichols</span> American judge (born 1970)

Carl John Nichols is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and a judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhang Yiming</span> Chinese internet entrepreneur (born 1983)

Zhang Yiming is a Chinese internet entrepreneur. He founded ByteDance in 2012, developed the news aggregator Toutiao and the video sharing platform Douyin. As of March 2024, Zhang's personal wealth was estimated at US$40.2 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the second-richest person in China, after Zhong Shanshan. On November 4, 2021, Zhang stepped down as CEO of ByteDance, completing a leadership handover announced in May 2021. According to Reuters, Zhang maintains over 50 percent of ByteDance's voting rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CamScanner</span> Mobile scanner app

CamScanner is a Chinese mobile app first released in 2011 that allows iOS and Android devices to be used as image scanners. It allows users to 'scan' documents and share the photo as either a JPEG or PDF. This app is available free of charge on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. The app is based on freemium model, with ad-supported free version and a premium version with additional functions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triller (app)</span> American social networking service

Triller is an American video-sharing social networking service. The service allows users to create and share short-form videos, including videos set to, or automatically synchronized to music using artificial intelligence technology. Triller was released for iOS and Android in 2015, and initially operated as a video editing app before adding social networking features.

<i>U.S. WeChat Users Alliance v. Trump</i> Lawsuit between U.S. WeChat Users Alliance and President Donald J. Trump

U.S. WeChat Users Alliance (USWUA) v. Trump was a court case pending before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs won a preliminary injunction on September 20, 2020, blocking the Trump administration's ban order against WeChat based on concerns raised about harm to First Amendment rights and the hardships imposed on a minority community using the app as a primary means of communication. The lawsuit was dismissed in July 2021, following the Biden Administration's rescission of the executive order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Censorship of TikTok</span> Restriction of access to TikTok by governments and organizations

Many countries have imposed past or ongoing restrictions on the video sharing social network TikTok. Bans from government devices usually stem from national security concerns over potential access of data by the Chinese government. Other bans have cited children's well-being and offensive content such as pornography.

There are reports of TikTok censoring political content related to China and other countries as well as content from minority creators. TikTok says that its initial content moderation policies, many of which are no longer applicable, were aimed at reducing divisiveness and were not politically motivated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Trump–TikTok controversy</span> 2020–2021 event

In 2020, the United States government announced that it was considering banning the Chinese social media platform TikTok upon a request from then-president Donald Trump, who viewed the app as a national security threat. The result was that TikTok owner ByteDance—which initially planned on selling a small portion of TikTok to an American company—agreed to divest TikTok to prevent a ban in the United States and in other countries where restrictions are also being considered due to privacy concerns, which themselves are mostly related to its ownership by a firm based in China.

Executive Order 13942 is the 178th executive order signed by former U.S. President Donald Trump on August 6, 2020, which directs the Secretary of Commerce to prohibit all transactions between anyone under the jurisdiction the United States and ByteDance, the parent company of social media platform TikTok.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No TikTok on Government Devices Act</span> United States federal law

The No TikTok on Government Devices Act is a United States federal law that prohibits the use of TikTok on all federal government devices. Originally introduced as a stand-alone bill in 2020, it was signed into law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 on December 29, 2022, by President Joe Biden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shou Zi Chew</span> CEO of TikTok

Shou Zi Chew is a Singaporean businessman who has been serving as the chief executive officer of TikTok, an online video platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance, since 2021.

In April 2024, US president Joe Biden signed into law the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which is an effective ban or forced sale of TikTok from its parent company ByteDance. The video-sharing platform had sparked concerns over potential user data collection and influence operations by the Chinese government. Previous efforts by the Trump administration to ban the app or force its sale were stopped by the courts and the Biden administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act</span> United States legislation

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) is an act of Congress that was signed into law on April 24, 2024, as part of the National Security Act, 2024. It would ban social networking apps within 270 to 360 days if they are determined by the president of the United States and relevant provisions to be a "foreign adversary controlled application". The act explicitly applies to Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries—including TikTok—without the need for additional determination. It ceases to be applicable if an app is sold and no longer considered by the president to be controlled by a foreign adversary of the United States.

References

  1. ↑ "TikTok Wins Reprieve From U.S. Ban". The New York Times. September 27, 2020.
  2. ↑ "ByteDance". www.bytedance.com. Archived from the original on August 21, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  3. ↑ Kim Lyons, TikTok says it will stop accessing clipboard content on iOS devices, Theverge.com, 26 June 2020
  4. ↑ Bell, M.B.; Wang, Echo (December 20, 2019). "U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices". Reuters . Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  5. ↑ Calma, Justine (December 31, 2019). "US Army bans soldiers from using TikTok". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  6. ↑ Harwell, Drew; Romm, Tony (December 31, 2019). "U.S. Army bans TikTok on military devices, signaling growing concern about app's Chinese roots". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  7. ↑ Fung, Brian (August 1, 2020). "Trump says he will ban TikTok". CNN. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  8. ↑ Iyengar, Rishi; Effron, Oliver; Carvajal, Nikki (August 4, 2020). "Trump says TikTok sale can go through but only if the US gets a cut". CNN. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain". Federal Register. May 17, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  10. 1 2 Iyengar, Rishi (November 26, 2020). "TikTok owner gets another week to sell its US business". CNN. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  11. ↑ Fung, Brian; Pham, Sherisse (November 13, 2020). "TikTok granted two more weeks to reach a deal for US business". CNN. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  12. ↑ "TikTok sues Trump administration over U.S. ban, calls it an election ploy". Reuters. August 24, 2020.
  13. ↑ Todd Bishop, Microsoft’s bid for TikTok rejected by ByteDance as reports name Oracle the winner of modified deal, Geekwire.com, 13 September 2020
  14. ↑ China-US Trade War : The battle against Tik Tok Archived January 28, 2021, at the Wayback Machine , Developerz.software, 15 September 2020
  15. ↑ "Commerce Department bans downloads of TikTok and WeChat in U.S." www.cbsnews.com. September 18, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  16. ↑ TikTok v. Trump, No.1:20-cv-02658-CJN (Order) (D.D.C.Sep. 27, 2020).
  17. ↑ TikTok v. Trump, No.1:20-cv-02658-CJN (Opinion) (D.D.C.Sep. 27, 2020).
  18. ↑ Bobby Allyn, U.S. Judge Halts Trump's TikTok Ban, The 2nd Court To Fully Block The Action, Npr.org, 7 December 2020
  19. ↑ Fung, Brian (July 22, 2021). "TikTok, Biden administration agree to drop litigation over Trump-era app store ban". CNN. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Stipulation of Dismissal – #71 in TIKTOK INC. v. TRUMP (D.D.C., 1:20-cv-02658)". CourtListener. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.