The Ministry of Justice views the popular app as a potential security threat and fears that the Chinese state has access to user data.
This includes, among other things, the collection of information related to geographic location, opinions, content habits, and private messages, according to Bloomberg.
The legal documents were registered with a court in Washington DC on Friday and are the latest turn in a legal battle between the Ministry of Justice and TikTok's Chinese parent company Bytedance.
Bytedance has, citing freedom of speech, sued the US state in an attempt to repeal a new law that could ban TikTok in the USA.
According to the law, Bytedance must sell its ownership stake by January 19 next year, or the app will be shut down.
TikTok has previously denied allegations that user data is shared with the Chinese state. Now, TikTok says in a new statement that a ban would "silence 170 million American voices" and that the Ministry of Justice lacks evidence for its case.
The Ministry of Justice, in turn, believes that a foreign power's collection and manipulation of personal information is not protected by the American Constitution's freedom of speech.
