America is a nation of rule of law that believes in human rights — that every citizen has the right to a fair trial and protection. That protection is also granted to corporations including non-American companies. In a ruling that would not have been otherwise possible in China, on Sunday, a U.S. Judge blocked the U.S. ban on TikTok download from U.S. app stores.
Over the weekend, Judge Carl Nichols of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued an injunction blocking the order from the Trump administration that would have banned TikTok from being downloaded from the U.S. app stores. However, the judge did not block a much broader ban set to come into effect on Nov. 12 in the U.S., which could effectively make TikTok unusable.
On September 18, the U.S. Commerce Department announced that it would ban U.S. business transactions with Chinese-owned social apps WeChat and TikTok effective Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020.
In a statement, TikTok said:
“We’re pleased that the court agreed with our legal arguments and issued an injunction preventing the implementation of the TikTok app ban. 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,” the statement said.
In the meantime, the U.S. Commerce Department said it will continue to defend the executive order which is “consistent with the law and promotes legitimate national security interests.” The department said in a statement:
“The Government will comply with the injunction and has taken immediate steps to do so, but intends to vigorously defend the E.O. and the Secretary’s implementation efforts from legal challenges.”
TikTok, known in China as Douyin, is a popular video-sharing social networking service owned by Chinese company ByteDance, a Beijing-based Internet technology company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming.
