2nd US judge blocks restrictions on TikTok

A second US judge late on Monday granted a preliminary injunction blocking the US commerce department from imposing restrictions on Chinese-owned short video sharing app TikTok that would have effectively barred its use in the United States.

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 TikTok users.

Nichols on September 27 had separately blocked the commerce department from banning Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’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 authorized the restrictions over concerns that personal data could be misused by TikTok.