Proactive Investors - TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the company will challenge in court new legislation in the US that would require the platform to be sold or be banned in the country.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed into law a bill that has given TikTok’s Beijing-based owner ByteDance nine months to divest the app.
Lawmakers are concerned that ByteDance may share user data with the Chinese government, which it has repeatedly denied.
"The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep US data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation," the company said in a statement following Biden’s approval of the bill.
In a video posted on TikTok, CEO Chew told users: “Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere.”
“We are confident and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts,” he said. “The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail again.”
The “again” refers to a failed attempt to ban TikTok in the US in 2020 by then-president Donald Trump.
TikTok’s legal challenge against the bill will go before the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
Meanwhile, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said he would not be commenting on the matter.
“I’m not going to comment on what other governments are doing,” he told the press on Wednesday.
“What I will say is Canada will continue to look very closely at how we can make sure we’re keeping Canadians safe while making sure we’re taking advantage of great technologies that spur innovation and opportunity for people right across the country.”
Canada banned the use of TikTok on government-issued mobile devices in February 2023 due to security concerns.