US judge blocks ban on TikTok app downloads

TikTok has received a last-minute reprieve of a ban on new downloads in the US after a judge in Washington granted its Chinese owners a temporary injunction.

Apple and Google had been set to be banned from offering the viral video app for download from today, in line with an executive order by the Trump administration.

US district judge Carl Nichols temporarily blocked the order late on Sunday, four hours before the ban was set to come into force, meaning TikTok would continue to remain available in US app stores.

The app has around 100 million users in the US, and more than 800 million users globally. Mr Nichols declined to block separate restrictions set to take effect in November which would stop the app being able to function properly.

A spokesman for 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."

“The government will comply with the injunction and has taken immediate steps to do so, but intends to vigorously defend the executive order and the secretary’s implementation efforts from legal challenges,” the Commerce Department said in a statement, referring to the president’s executive order.

Trump has called for bans on both TikTok and WeChat, owned by China’s Tencent, arguing that the apps could give China’s government access to millions of Americans’ personal data. Both companies have denied the claims.

John Hall, a lawyer for TikTok, argued earlier on Sunday that the ban was "unprecedented" and "irrational".

"How does it make sense to impose this app store ban tonight when there are negotiations under way that might make it unnecessary?" Hall asked during a 90-minute hearing. "This is just punitive. This is just a blunt way to whack the company... There is simply no urgency here."

Representatives for Chinese state media welcomed the ruling.

"I think it is in line with morality, justice and common sense," Hu Xijin, the editor in chief of the Global Times newspaper said on Twitter on Monday.

Chinese state media have said they see no reason for China to approve the deal, describing it as based on "bullying and extortion”.

If the government chooses to appeal the decision, it would go to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, one level below the Supreme Court.

The latest move gives TikTok's owner Bytedance more time to thrash out a deal with suitors Oracle and Walmart.

Earlier this month, Donald Trump said he had given the deal, under which both Oracle and Walmart would take stakes in a new TikTok Global company, his "blessing" - raising hopes a deal could be announced imminently.

However, over the past week, concerns have mounted that the deal could collapse, with Chinese state media last week claiming the mooted deal was "dirty and unfair".

Seemingly contradictory statements over how the deal would be structured has cast further doubt on whether it will be completed.

Bytedance had claimed it will maintain majority control of a TikTok Global company, whereas President Donald Trump told Fox News that the Chinese firm "will have nothing to do with it, and if they do we just won't make a deal”.

Experts said the likelihood that a deal would be blocked by Beijing had increased.