A US judge in Pennsylvania on Friday blocked a US Commerce Department order set to take effect on November 12 that would have effectively barred Chinese-owned short video-sharing app TikTok from operating in the United States.
US District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone enjoined the Commerce Department from barring data hosting within the United States for TikTok, content delivery services and other technical transactions.
In her ruling, Beetlestone said the order would “have the effect of shutting down, within the United States, a platform for expressive activity used by approximately 700 million individuals globally. Over 100 million of these TikTok users are within the United States, and at least 50 million of these US users use the app on a daily basis.”
Nichols is scheduled to hear a November 4 hearing on other aspects of the Commerce Department order that Beetlestone blocked on Friday.
The order by Beetlestone, in a suite brought by three TikTok content creators, also blocks the App Store download ban.
Tiktok said in a statement, “This was further deepened by the framework of support” to prepare its users “who have worked to protect their rights of expression.”
Negotiations are underway to finalize an initial deal for Walmart Inc. and Oracle Corp to take bets in Tickcock Global, a new company that will oversee US operations. US President Donald Trump said he had a “blessing” in the deal last month.
The Trump administration believes Tiktok faces national security concerns in the form of personal data collected on 100 million Americans who use the app that can be obtained by China’s government. Tikotok denies the allegations.
