US District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington issued an order
in a suit filed by TikTok-owner ByteDance more than a month after US judge
Wendy Beetlestone in Pennsylvania blocked the same restrictions that were set
to take effect on November 12 in a suit brought by some TikTok users.
Nichols on September 27 had separately blocked the Commerce
Department from banning Apple and Alphabet's Google app stores from offering
the app for downloads by new users.
A TikTok spokesman said it was "pleased that the court
agreed with us and granted a preliminary injunction."
Nichols, who was named to the bench by President Donald
Trump last year, said the Commerce Department "likely overstepped"
its legal authority in issuing the effective TikTok ban "and acted in an
arbitrary and capricious manner by failing to consider obvious alternatives."
The Commerce Department said it would "vigorously
defend" Trump's August executive order that authorised the restrictions
and said it "is fully consistent with law and promotes legitimate national
security interests. The government will continue to comply with the
injunctions."
Nichols' order enjoins the agency from barring data hosting
within the United States for TikTok, content delivery services and other
technical transactions.
On Friday, the Trump administration declined to grant
ByteDance a new extension of Trump's August order requiring it to divest
TikTok's US assets, but talks will continue, Reuters reported.
The Treasury Department said late on Friday the government
"is engaging with ByteDance to complete the divestment and other steps
necessary to resolve the national security risks."
The Trump administration contends TikTok poses national
security concerns as the personal data of US users could be obtained by China's
government. TikTok, which has over 100 million US users, denies the allegation.
Under pressure from the US government, ByteDance has been in
talks for months to finalise a deal with Walmart and Oracle to shift TikTok's
US assets into a new entity.
A US appeals court will hear arguments on Nichols' app store
ban injunction on December 14.
© Reuters