Trump administration to delay enforcement of Tiktok ban
The US government has said it will delay enforcement of a ban on Tiktok as the Chinese-owned viral video app fights back against the measures.
The Trump administration in August filed a divestiture order that would have forced Tiktok to sell its US operations by Thursday this week.
But the US Commerce Department said it would put the order on hold “pending further legal developments”.
It came as the US Justice Department said it had appealed against an order made by a Pennsylvania judge on 30 October that blocked the restrictions.
Tiktok, which is owned by Chinese tech giant Bytedance, has been told to divest its US business amid concerns user data could be transferred to Beijing. The company has denied the allegations.
The popular video-sharing app has agreed preliminary terms with Oracle and Walmart to form a new entity that would oversee its data and content moderation in the US, but the complex deal has not yet been finalised.
Tiktok had been given until Thursday to complete a restructuring that would satisfy US national security concerns.
But the firm this week filed a legal petition requesting a delay to the order. It has also challenged the measures, which it argues are unconstitutional and violate the firm’s constitutional rights.