On Sunday a Columbia federal Judge Postpones TikTok Ban in the US which was ordered by Trump Administration and going to be removed from downloading stores from the previous Sunday and totally ban in the month of November.
The ban remains scheduled for November, about a week after the presidential election. The judge, Carl Nichols of the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia, did not agree to postpone the later ban.
When Trump Administration ordered Ban TikTok in the US the reason given by the government is the security reasons of the country as TikTok parent company ByteDance is a Chinese company and the apps could give China’s government access to millions of Americans’ personal data.
The ban, scheduled to go into effect at 11:59 p.m. in New York, would have removed TikTok from the app stores and Google’s Play Store, the most widely used marketplaces for downloadable apps. People who don’t yet have the app wouldn’t be able to get it, and those who already have it wouldn’t have access to updates. TikTok is used regularly by 19 million Americans.
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Federal Judge Postpones TikTok Ban in the US
US District Federal Judge Carl Nichols granted a preliminary injunction against the ban on the widely used video-sharing network App after an unusual Sunday morning hearing. The judge refused to grant an injunction against a November deadline for a sale. TikTok’s owner, ByteDance Ltd., had requested the hold after the president ordered TikTok out of American app stores unless the company sold a stake in its US operations to a domestic buyer.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump declared that TikTok was a threat to national security and that it must either sell its U.S. operations to American companies or be barred from the country. As TikTok parent company, ByteDance is a Chinese-originated company and due to tensions between the two nations, Trump has a fear that China may get Informational data of the American users through App.
The case is TikTok Inc. v. Trump, 20-cv-2658, US District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
Also read: TikTok and Wechat Ban Appstore downloads from 20 September in the US said by President Trump
TikTok Lawyer ‘John Hall’ Opinion about TikTok Ban
In an argument to Judge Nichols, TikTok lawyer John Hall said that “TikTok is more than an app since it functions as a modern-day version of a town square. If that prohibition goes into effect at midnight, the consequences immediately are grave,” Hall said. “It would be no different than the government locking the doors to a public forum, roping off that town square” at a time when free exchange of ideas is necessary heading into a polarized election.
TikTok Lawyer Hall also argued that if the App is Ban then Millions of viewers and content creators will not able to express themselves every month and would also hurt its ability to hire new talent. In addition, Hall argued that a ban would prevent existing users from automatically receiving security updates, eroding national security.
The Justice department Opinion about TikTok Ban
Justice Department lawyer Daniel Schwei said that Chinese companies are not purely private and are subject to intrusive laws compelling their cooperation with intelligence agencies. The Justice Department has also argued that economic regulations of this nature generally are not subject to First Amendment scrutiny. This is the most immediate national security threat,” argued Schwei. It is a threat today, It is a risk today and therefore it deserves to be addressed today even while other things are ongoing and playing out.” Schwei also argued that TikTok lawyers failed to prove the company would suffer irreparable business harm.
The Justice Department laid out its objections to TikTok’s motion for a temporary injunction in a brief under seal, but it was unsealed in redacted form to protect confidential business information.
Trump Administration on Judge Postpones TikTok Ban
The Trump Administration set a process in motion with executive orders that declare that Chinese Apps along with TikTok and Wechat threats to the national security of the country.
Trump has given the Approval to the proposed deal in which Oracle and Walmart could initially own a combined 20% of a new U.S. entity, TikTok Global. But Trump also said that he will cancel the deal later after if he finds that there is not fully control on user’s information by U.S. based company Oracle.
But the deal remains unfinalized, and the two sides have also appeared at the corporate structure of TikTok Global. ByteDance said last week that it will still own 80% of the U.S. entity after a financing round. Oracle, meanwhile, put out a statement saying that Americans will be the majority and ByteDance will have no ownership in TikTok Global.
China’s foreign ministry has said the government will take necessary steps to safeguard its companies in other countries like in the U.S. but no indication was given by them that what steps they will be taken off to safeguard their companies in foreign countries like the U.S.
