Trump Administration Appeals Court Ruling Blocking US TikTok Ban

The Trump administration appealed on Monday to a federal court ruling that allowed TikTok to remain active in the United States despite a move to block the popular social media application on national security grounds.

The Justice Department filed an appeal seeking to enforce a ban on TikTok by President Donald Trump, who argued that the app's Chinese parent company could use TikTok for espionage and disinformation.

The filing did not include arguments for the enforcement of the ban, which had been rejected earlier this month by US District Judge Carl Nichols and in a parallel case filed in Pennsylvania.  

Nichols said TikTok’s lawyers had demonstrated that the Commerce Department likely overstepped its authority by seeking to ban the popular social media app and “acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by failing to consider obvious alternatives.”

The White House claims TikTok is a national security risk because of potential links to the Beijing government through its Chinese owner ByteDance.

Trump’s order said the action was necessary to “protect our national security” and claimed the personal data of TikTok users could be used by Beijing.

TikTok has repeatedly defended itself against allegations of data transfers to the Chinese government, saying that it stores user information on servers in the United States and Singapore.

TikTok has yet another fight in his hands over Trump's August 14 executive order to force ByteDance to sell its US operations to an American buyer.