TikTok is challenging allegations of ties to Chinese authorities in a U.S. court, arguing that it runs on American Oracle servers

TikTok has filed a lawsuit in a US federal appeals court, claiming that the US Department of Justice made factual errors in its allegations about the company's ties to China.

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A law signed by US President Joe Biden in April requires ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to sell the platform to a US party by January 2025, or else TikTok will be banned in the US. The Justice Department claims the app poses a threat to national security by allowing the Chinese government to collect data on Americans and influence their content consumption.

TikTok insists that its content recommendation system and user data are stored on Oracle's cloud servers in the US, and that content moderation decisions for US users are made domestically. Arguments in the legal dispute are scheduled for 16 September, bringing the case closer to the 5 November presidential election.

In the political arena, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has opposed TikTok's ban, while Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has engaged with TikTok as part of her campaign strategy. TikTok claims the law violates its free speech rights.

Source: Reuters