President Donald Trump’s ban on TikTok was temporarily blocked by a federal judge, giving a blow to the government in its showdown with the popular Chinese-owned app that it says threatens national security.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols on September 27 granted a preliminary injunction against the ban on new downloads of the video-sharing network, which would have gone into effect at 11:59 p.m. in Washington. The judge declined to grant an injunction on a separate set of prohibitions scheduled for Nov. 12 that are designed to further curb the app’s use in the U.S.
Tik Tok’s owner ByteDance Ltd. requested the hold after the president ordered the app out of American stores unless the company sold a stake in its US operations to a domestic buyer. Tik Tok has been downloaded by more than 100 million Americans.
It’s the second legal ruling against the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on popular apps with Chinese owners. Trump has called for bans on both TikTok and WeChat, owned by China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd., arguing that the apps could give China’s government access to millions of Americans’ personal data.
WeChat users won a court injunction against a ban last week. The bans are part of Trump’s stringent approach on Beijing as the presidential election approaches.
Meanwhile China is planning to take actions to prevent Tik Tok and its technologies from falling into the US’ hands.
