The United States federal judge on September 27, 2020, suspended Donald Trump’s ban on new Tik Tok downloads, hours before it was to go into effect.
The district judge issued a temporary injunction at the request of Tik Tok, which earlier the White House had called national security threat claiming that its Chinese parent firm is tied to the Beijing government.
However, the judge declined to grant an injunction on a separate set of prohibitions scheduled for November 12, 2020, that have been designed to further curb Tik Tok’s use in the United States.
US govt issued ban on Tik Tok:
The hold on the ban was requested by Tik Tok’s owner, ByteDance Ltd. after President Donald Trump had ordered the app out of the American stores unless the company sold a stake in its US operations to a domestic buyer.
This ban would have removed Tik Tok from the stores run by Google’s Android and Apple Inc., the most widely used market places for apps.
BREAKING: Federal judge temporarily suspends President Trump's order that would have banned popular app TikTok from app stores on Sunday. https://t.co/lSWlR1imp9
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 28, 2020
What would have been the outcome of this ban?
If the ban on new Tik Tok downloads would not have been put on hold by the US federal judge, people who don’t yet have the Tik Tok app would not have been able to download it and those who already have it would not have the access to updates that are needed to ensure its safe and smooth operations.
Reportedly, Tik Tok has been downloaded by more than 100 million Americans.
Tik Tok owners on the prevention of ban:
The company in a statement mentioned that they are pleased that the court has agreed with our legal arguments and issued an injunction that prevents the implementation of the Tik Tok app ban.
It further states that the company will continue to defend their rights for the benefits of their community and employees. They will also be maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the US government to turn their proposal, which the President had given his preliminary approval, into an agreement.
Decline of injunction on November 12 ban on Tik Tok:
The US Judge has further denied Tik Tok’s request to suspend the November 12, 2020 ban on the app, which as per the Trump’s executive order will further curb the app’s use in the US.
Reason behind the ban on Chinese apps in the United States:
The bans on Chinese apps in the US are a part of the increasingly political hard line that Trump has taken on Beijing as the US elections approaches.
According to the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, Tik Tok and other applications such as WeChat have been feeding US data directly to China’s national security apparatus.
Background:
The United States President Donald Trump had earlier issued an executive order following the ban of Chinese video app Tik Tok. The President had also announced that Walmart and Oracle will need to have total control over the video-sharing app in order for the United States to approve a deal between the company and its two partners in the United States.
On August 6, 2020, Trump had again signed an executive order, banning any form of US transactions with ByteDance, set to take effect in 45 days.
Later on August 14, 2020, the President issued another executive order, requiring ByteDance to divest its interest in Tik Tok’s operations in the United States within 90 days.
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