WASHINGTON (US) – Late on Monday, a second judge in the US allowed a preliminary injunction blocking the Commerce Department from imposing restrictions on Chinese-owned short video sharing application TikTok that would have prevented its use in the United States.
The order was issued by District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington in a law suit filed by China’s ByteDance, which owns the application more than a month after judge Wendy Beetlestone in Pennsylvania blocked the same curbs, which were supposed to kick in on Nov. 12.
On September 27, Nichols had separately blocked the Commerce Department from imposing a ban on Apple and Google app stores from offering TikTok for downloads.
TikTok is pleased that the court agreed with us and granted a preliminary injunction, said a spokesman of the firm.
Nichols was nominated to the bench last year by President Donald Trump. He said the Commerce Department “likely overstepped” its legal authority when it issued a ban on the app “and acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by failing to consider obvious alternatives.”
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said it would “vigorously defend” the president’s executive order in August allowing the curbs and said it “is fully consistent with law and promotes legitimate national security interests. The government will continue to comply with the injunctions.”
The judge’s order enjoins the agency from blocking data hosting within the US for TikTok, content delivery services and other technical dealings.
The administration on Friday refused to allow ByteDance a new extension of the August order mandating it to divest TikTok’s assets in the US, but negotiations will continue.
Late on Friday, the Treasury Department said the Trump administration is engaging with ByteDance “to complete the divestment and other steps necessary to resolve the national security risks.”
Trump believes TikTok poses national security concerns as China can mine the personal data of American users who amount close to over 100 million, a charge which the firm denies.