The suit, which was filed in the Federal District Court for the Central District of California, represents TikTok’s most direct challenge to the White House and escalates an increasingly bitter back-and-forth between the popular video app and American officials. “We do not take suing the government lightly, however we feel we have no choice but to take action to protect our rights, and the rights of our community and employees,” the company said in its suit. “Our more than 1,500 employees across the US pour their hearts into building this platform every day," the company said, noting that it planned to hire more than 10,000 more workers across eight states in the coming years.