TikTok: Judge halts Trump’s download ban
Jennifer Ugwueke
A US Federal judge, on Sunday, halted enforcement of a politically charged ban ordered by the Trump administration on downloads of the popular video app, TikTok, hours before it was set to take effect.
A temporary injunction at the request of TikTok, was issued by the District Judge Carl Nicholas, which the White House has called a national security threat stemming from its Chinese parent firm’s links to the Beijing Government.
The opinion was sealed, so no reason for the decision was released in a brief order by the Court in Washington. The judge may unseal portions of the order after consulting with lawyers from both sides.
The Trump administration order had sought to ban new downloads of the app from midnight (0400 GMT Monday) but would allow use of TikTok until November 12, when all usage would be blocked. The judge denied TikTok’s request to suspend the November 12 ban.
The decision represents a temporary win for TikTok, which has 100 million US users. But the Court has yet to consider the merits of the legal arguments on whether the social platform should remain available to Americans.
TikTok has argued that even a temporary ban would be devastating and cause the company irreparable harm by stunting its growth and hurting its commercial reputation.
“We’re pleased that the Court agreed with our legal arguments and issued an injunction,” TikTok said in a statement.
“We will continue defending our rights for the benefit of our Community and employees.”
For the injunction, Nichols heard arguments on the free-speech and national security implications of the Trump ban on the Chinese-owned app in a rare Sunday telephone hearing.
TikTok lawyer John Hall said a ban would be “punitive” and close off a public forum used by tens of millions of Americans.
In a written brief filed ahead of the hearing, TikTok lawyers said the ban was “arbitrary and capricious” and “would undermine data security” by blocking updates and fixes to the app.
The company also said the ban was unnecessary because negotiations were already underway to restructure the ownership of TikTok to address national security issues raised by the administration.
Government lawyers argued the President has a right to take national security actions and said the ban was needed because of TikTok’s links to the Chinese Government through its parent firm ByteDance.