TikTok vows legal battle as the US presses for app’s sale or ban

A man holding a smartphone displaying the logo of Chinese social media platform Tiktok in an office in Paris. TikTok is at risk of losing its most lucrative market after years of struggling to assure the US government that its popular social media app isn’t a threat to national security. — AFP

TikTok told employees it will fight in the courts if a US bill forcing a ban or divestiture of the Chinese-owned app is signed into law, as one of the world’s most valuable technology businesses tries to fend off an existential crisis in its most important market.

"This is an unprecedented deal worked out between the Republican Speaker and President Biden,” Michael Beckerman, TikTok’s head of public policy for the Americas, said in a memo to TikTok’s US staff. "At the stage that the bill is signed, we will move to the courts for a legal challenge.”