Judge Temporarily Blocks US Ban on New TikTok Downloads

A federal judge on Sunday granted TikTok a preliminary injunction that temporarily halts an order from the Trump Administration that would have banned new app downloads in the United States beginning on Monday, reports The New York Times.

Should the order have gone into effect, Apple and Google could have been forced to remove TikTok from their respective app stores, and users who already have the app installed would no longer receive updates.

TikTok can avoid a potential ban by selling its United States business to an American-based company. Last week, it was announced that TikTok would be partnering with Oracle and Walmart to form TikTok Global, a new company that would be headquartered in the United States. Under the initial proposal, Oracle would be responsible for storing user data and could also review TikTok's current source code and that of any subsequent updates.

"We're pleased that the court agreed with our legal arguments and issued an injunction preventing the implementation of the TikTok app ban," a spokesman for TikTok said on Sunday after the judge's decision. "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 proposal, which the president gave his preliminary approval to last weekend, into an agreement."

President Trump signed an executive order in August giving ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, 90 days to sell its U.S. TikTok business due to possible national security threats from the China-based company. The preliminary injunction granted to TikTok, however, does not block additional restrictions set to be imposed in November that would render the app unusable in the country.

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