TikTok Invites Facebook To Challenge TikTok Ban

TikTok Invites Facebook To Challenge TikTok Ban

In its battle against President Donald Trump’s intentions to block its app domestically, TikTok is requesting the help of rival Facebook Inc., Bloomberg reported.

The request came after a tweet posted by Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram. Mosseri wrote in a Friday (Sept. 18) tweet, “I’ve said this before, but a US TikTok ban would be quite bad for Instagram, Facebook, and the internet more broadly.”

Vanessa Pappas, interim CEO of TikTok, then responded to his tweet, asking the firm to become a part of its battle.

“We agree that this type of ban would be bad for the industry,” Pappas said in the tweet. “We invite Facebook and Instagram to publicly join our challenge and support our litigation. This is a moment to put aside our competition and focus on core principles like freedom of expression and due process of law.”

Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, had recently indicated that he believed a block of TikTok would put into place a “bad long-term precedent” for the tech space.

The news comes as Sunday approaches as a red-letter day for TikTok along with WeChat of Tencent — in addition to the tens of millions of users who harness the mobile programs for commerce.

The U.S. government is limiting access to the two mobile programs in a battle between the United States and China that focuses on national security.

On Friday (Sept. 18), the Commerce Department  said providers will be prohibited from distributing the program, which affects Apple and Google, the tech firms whose app stores are pivotal access points.

“The only real change as of Sunday night will be [TikTok users] won’t have access to improved updated apps, upgraded apps or maintenance,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Friday, according to The New York Times.

The department’s order says that “any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with ByteDance Ltd … shall be prohibited to the extent permitted under applicable law.”