TikTok threatens legal action over Trump ban

TikTok has threatened legal action against the US after President Donald Trump ordered firms to stop doing business with two Chinese apps within 45 days.

The ByteDance-owned company said it was "shocked" by the executive order, claiming it was issued “without any due process”.

"We will pursue all remedies available to us in order to ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and our users are treated fairly – if not by the Administration, then by the US courts," it added.

Trump issued a similar order against China's Tencent-owned WeChat as he ramped up his trade war with Beijing to boost flagging poll numbers ahead of the US elections in November.

Tencent, said: "We are reviewing the executive order to get a full understanding."

TikTok said it had sought to engage with the US government "in good faith to provide a constructive solution to the concerns that have been expressed,” the company said in a statement".

“What we encountered instead was that the US Administration paid no attention to facts, dictated terms of an agreement without going through standard legal processes, and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses.”

Trump threatened to ban TikTok in the US over security concerns, with the company is now in talks to sell its American business to Microsoft ahead of a September 15 deadline imposed by the president.

The Trump administration claims that the Chinese government has access to user information gathered by TikTok, which the company has denied.