TikTok asks court to delay divestiture deadline from Trump order

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance filed a petition Tuesday asking the courts to extend a Thursday deadline for the company to divest the popular video-sharing app as outlined in an executive order from President TrumpDonald John TrumpFeds charge Staten Island man over threat to Schumer, FBI Pence cancels vacation in Florida: report Romney shoots down serving in Biden Cabinet MORE

In the petition filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Beijing-based ByteDance asks for an extension since a proposed deal tentatively approved by Trump in September has yet to be finalized, according to reports. The proposed deal would establish a U.S.-headquartered TikTok Global with partial U.S.-based owners, Oracle and Walmart.  

“Facing continual new requests and no clarity on whether our proposed solutions would be accepted, we requested the 30-day extension that is expressly permitted in the August 14 order,” TikTok said in a statement to Reuters. 

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“Without an extension in hand, we have no choice but to file a petition in court to defend our rights,” the company added. 

Trump’s executive order targeting TikTok alleged the company posted national security concerns. TikTok has denied such allegations. 

The Trump administration’s push to overhaul the use of TikTok in the U.S. is part of a larger pushback on Chinese-owned tech companies, including messaging platform WeChat, amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing. 

The executive order calling for ByteDance to divest TikTok is just one of the ways the administration is placing pressure on the popular app.  In another order, the administration tried to ban the app from being downloaded on U.S. app stores. 

The order has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge, but the Department of Commerce said earlier this month it would continue to “vigorously defend” it.  

Spokespeople for TikTok and the White House were not immediately available for comment.