Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump's TikTok Ban Download the popular video-sharing app while you still can.

By Stephanie Mlot Edited by Jessica Thomas Sep 28, 2020

This story originally appeared on PC Mag

With less than four hours to spare, a federal judge on Sunday blocked the Trump administration's attempt to ban new TikTok downloads in the US.

In an emergency hearing over the weekend, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols partially granted a preliminary injunction, declining "at this time" to block restrictions set to take effect in mid-November.

TikTok owner ByteDance has been looking to sell the popular video-sharing app since President Trump threatened a nationwide embargo, citing concerns about a Chinese-based company having access to US user data. In an effort to save the popular platform from sudden death, Oracle recently stepped in to acquire a 12.5 percent stake in TikTok Global, with plans to run the social network on Oracle Cloud. TikTok is also working on a commercial partnership with Walmart, which tentatively agreed to purchase 7.5 percent of TikTok Global, with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon serving as one of its five board members.

A full U.S. ban, according to TikTok attorney John Hall, would have been an "extraordinary action at the very time when the need for free open and accessible communication in America is at its zenith," he said during Sunday's hearing, as reported by CNN.

The Trump White House continues to believe TikTok's ownership by a Chinese firm reflects an "immediate danger" to national security, the news site said. Government lawyers claim user data could fall into the hands of the Communist Party of China—a claim TikTok denies, explaining that it keeps U.S. intelligence stateside, with a backup in Singapore.

"We're pleased that the court agreed with our legal arguments and issued a injunction preventing the implementation of [an] app ban," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement emailed to PCMag. "We will continue defending our rights for the benefit of our community and employees. At the same time, we will also maintain our ongoing dialogue with the government to turn our [proposed deal with Oracle], which the president gave his preliminary approval to last weekend, into an agreement."

Editors' Note: This story was updated at 7:40 a.m. ET with comment from TikTok.

Stephanie Mlot

Reporter at PCMag

Stephanie began as a PCMag reporter in May 2012. She moved to New York City from Frederick, Md., where she worked for four years as a multimedia reporter at the second-largest daily newspaper in Maryland. She interned at Baltimore magazine and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (in the town of Indiana, in the state of Pennsylvania) with a degree in journalism and mass communications.

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