Photo taken on Aug. 21, 2020 shows a logo of the video-sharing social networking company TikTok's Los Angeles Office in Culver City, Los Angeles County, the United States. (Xinhua)

The move by TikTok to take the Trump administration to court reflects the Chinese company's all-out efforts to defend itself against the US government's extreme bullying, and the move is risky but worth a try, a Chinese lawyer and industry observers said.

TikTok, the short-video platform owned by Chinese start-up ByteDance, said on Monday that it is filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's attempt to ban the company in the US, giving seven reasons that the presidential executive order violates the Constitution of the US and is ultra vires.

"By banning TikTok with no notice or opportunity to be heard [whether before or after the fact], the executive order violates the due process protections of the Fifth Amendment," read the TikTok complaint. "The order is ultra vires because it is not based on a bona fide national emergency and authorizes the prohibition of activities that have not been found to pose 'an unusual and extraordinary threat'."

In the complaint, TikTok also pointed to the fact that the executive order issued on August 6 was a misuse of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the US president broad authority to regulate a variety of economic transactions following a declaration of a national emergency, since "TikTok Inc has no role in providing 'critical infrastructure and vital emergency services'."

Trump issued an executive order on August 6 giving ByteDance 45 days to sell its stake or else face US restrictions, and he later added a 90-day deadline in a new order issued on August 14. 

Each of the seven points listed in the TikTok complaint will have to be supported by much evidence and many facts, which will be quite a challenging process, or else the suit might be rejected by the court, Liu Xinze, senior partner at Beijing Polywell Law Firm, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Although the US government seems to have the upper hand in the case, there is a possibility that TikTok could win, even if it stands firm on only one of the seven points. "That can represent success for the Chinese firm to some extent," said Liu.

"The final move to take the US government to court and elaborate its seven 'sins' is the result of ByteDance's management level, which is centered around [founder] Zhang Yiming, who seems to show no sign of giving in to the US' bullying," said Wang Chao, founder of the Wenyuan Institute for Politics and Economics, a Beijing-based think tank.

The lawsuit will mean huge risks and uncertainties, but it is worth a try, Wang told the Global Times on Tuesday.

For major US investors behind ByteDance, the latest move is risky, as it might be that TikTok, with assets worth tens of billions of US dollars will largely disappear if it is banned and not sold to a US firm ultimately.

Diverging views about TikTok in the US have arisen between Zhang and US investors, according to domestic media outlet LatePost, citing several sources close to the matter.

US investors want that TikTok is completely divested so they can gain a controlling stake in the company, and later introduce other, smaller stakeholders like Microsoft and Oracle, in the hope that Trump would not ban the app, said the LatePost report.

"Given the current situation, I guess Zhang has more voting rights in TikTok's destiny," said Wang.
Newspaper headline: TikTok 'takes risk with US lawsuit' but may still win