US judge orders Trump admin to postpone TikTok ban or defend decision in court: Report

A US federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to either postpone the ban on China-owned TikTok or be ready to defend itself during a court hearing this weekend, according to a report by Wall Street Journal. The White House had announced that the application will not be available for download on Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store in the United States from September 27.

TikTok’s parent company had asked a US judge to block the Trump administration from banning the Chinese social media network after prohibition order announced by the Commerce Department on September 18. The Chinese tech company has called the ban as a violation of  First Amendment free-speech rights as millions of Americans express themselves on the online platform. 

The White House could face yet another setback if the court orders the Trump administration to halt the ban after another federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting WeChat, a Chinese messaging and e-commerce app. On August 6, Trump signed an executive order prohibiting US citizens and businesses from doing any transaction with TikTok, its parent company ByteDance Ltd., and messaging app WeChat after 45 days.

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The Commerce Department ordered the administration to prohibit Americans from downloading TikTok or WeChat from App Store or Google’s Play Store starting September 20. It further stated that the new order will prohibit any provision of service to distribute or maintain WeChat or TikTok, constituent code or application updates through an online mobile application store in the US. 

Sale talks in final phase

The ban on TikTok was deferred to November 12 after the reports of final talks on the sale of its US operations emerged. According to a Bloomberg report, Oracle and Walmart will buy 12.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent stake respectively in newly established TikTok Global and both companies would pay a combined $20 billion if they agree to the proposed valuation.

China has repeatedly accused the United States of abusing the concept of national security to oppress non-American companies. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a press briefing that Beijing opposes the attempt to abuse the concept of national security and use its power to oppress specific companies of other countries.

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(With ANI Inputs)