Chinese-owned video sharing app TikTok has filed a petition in a U.S. Appeals Court challenging a Trump administration order which would see the company become a new US-based operation part-owned by Oracle and Walmart.
The app's owner ByteDance claim the have not heard from the Trump administration in weeks - despite a deadline this Thursday to divest the company
The August 14 executive order directed Beijing-based ByteDance to divest TikTok within 90 days, which is this Thursday.
The company says it has received no direction from the administration, and has filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia seeking a review of the divestment order.
The Trump administration claims that TikTok poses national security concerns as the personal data of U.S. users could be obtained by China's government.
TikTok, which has over 100 million U.S. users, denies the allegations.
TikTok has not heard from the Trump's administration who ordered the Chinese-owned app to restructure ownership of its app in the United States
'Facing continual new requests and no clarity on whether our proposed solutions would be accepted, we requested the 30-day extension that is expressly permitted in the August 14 order,' the company said in a statement.
Facing the imminent deadline 'and without an extension in hand, we have no choice but to file a petition in court to defend our rights,' the company said.
TikTok has said it is still interested in pursuing a technology deal with Oracle.
Nevertheless, there hasn't been any meaningful dialogue with the Trump administration's committee on foreign investment in the United States (CFIUS) for weeks, according to CNBC.
A tech advisor to President-elect Joe Biden says 'it's too early' to know what the Biden administration's TikTok policy might be when they take over the White House in January.
President Trump signed a set of orders against the video platform this summer. One required ByteDance to sell its US TikTok operations within 90 days, citing national security concerns
The election and Trump's coronavirus diagnosis may well have caused some distraction in the intervening period.
The November 12 CFIUS deadline requests for ByteDance, TikTok's parent company to 'divest any tangible or intangible assets or property, wherever located, used to enable or support ByteDance's operation of the TikTok application in the United States.'
However, it has not stated what the penalties would be if the company fails to divest.
The Trump administration has previously threatened to ban the app in the United States.
The lack of direction prompted TikTok to file a petition in the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Tuesday, calling for a review of actions by CFIUS.
After negotiations with several US firms, ByteDance and TikTok proposed creating a new company with Oracle and Walmart but it has yet to receive the green light
'For a year, TikTok has actively engaged with CFIUS in good faith to address its national security concerns, even as we disagree with its assessment,' TikTok said in a statement.
'In the nearly two months since the President gave his preliminary approval to our proposal to satisfy those concerns, we have offered detailed solutions to finalize that agreement – but have received no substantive feedback on our extensive data privacy and security framework.'
President Trump had claimed TikTok was a national security threat because it collects American users' data, which could then be accessed by the Chinese government.
After negotiations with several US firms, ByteDance and TikTok proposed creating a new company with Oracle and Walmart but it is still awaiting the go ahead
TikTok denies such assertions but would still like the company to push ahead with some kind of deal that would remove the issue of security from the company.
ByteDance has agreed to sell 20% of a new U.S. based company called TikTok Global to Oracle as well as to Walmart.
Although President Trump approved the deal on September 18th, there was never clearance from Chinese government due to a disagreement over who exactly would be the true owners of TikTok Global - and whether the Chinese would still have any input.
Under the September deal, TikTok would become a new Texas-based company, potentially bringing in 25,000 jobs.
Oracle will take a 12.5 per cent share in the new company, TikTok Global, while Walmart will take 7.5%. Chinese firm ByteDance will retain roughly 80% of the new company, according to the Wall Street Journal.
But because ByteDance is 40% owned by US investors, the new TikTok Global will technically have a majority American ownership.