Delay TikTok Ban Or Defend By Friday, Judge Tells Trump Administration

TikTok may have secured legal respite against the ban on its U.S. operations after U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols on Thursday asked President Donald Trump's administration to either file a response to TikTok's injunction by 2:30 p.m. ET Friday, or delay the ban that goes into effect late Sunday, reports Bloomberg.

What Happened: ByteDance had filed for a preliminary injunction on Wednesday, seeking a stay against the Trump administration's order of ban on its U.S. operations. The TikTok parent requested the judge to expedite hearings before the ban order takes effect.

TikTok in its filing said that they have "made extraordinary efforts to try to satisfy the government’s ever-shifting demands and purported national security concerns. In the absence of preliminary injunctive relief, the August 6 order and the prohibitions will cause plaintiffs irreparable harm," reports Bloomberg.

TikTok's lawyers told the court that the ban is hurting their reputation with users, who are considering moving to other less attractive platforms, according to Bloomberg.

TikTok is following the path of Tencent Holdings-owned TECHY WeChat, which made similar arguments in its injunction filing last Saturday.

Judge Nichols has asked the Trump administration to delay the ban — so that hearings can occur on a slower timeline as the government prefers, or he will expedite hearings in order to reach a decision by Sunday, tweeted Politico's Steven Overly.

What's Next: The Department of Justice must come back to court by 2:30 p.m. EDT Friday with a decision to either delay the ban or argue a case against TikTok's injunction.

Justice Department spokeswoman Mollie Timmons declined to comment to Bloomberg when asked if they would challenge the injunction.

The court said, "there is no need for parties or this court to conduct emergency proceedings and wade into sensitive issues of national security and foreign policy on the basis of a limited record prepared on an extremely short time frame," reports Bloomberg.

Separately, ByteDance has applied for an export license from China's regulator to move ahead with a deal involving Oracle Corporation ORCL and Walmart Inc (NYSE) taking 12.5% and 7.5% stake respectively in subsidiary TikTok Global's U.S. operations.