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Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd, the owner of TikTok, argues that
the previous ruling could still be overturned on appeal.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols for the District of Columbia
ordered both parties to file legal papers by Friday to address
whether TikTok still faces "irreparable harm" from the U.S.
order that Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google app stores remove
the app for download by new users.
The Trump administration contends TikTok poses national security
concerns as the personal data of U.S. users could be obtained by
China's government. TikTok denies the allegations.
Nichols said he was unsure if TikTok could demonstrate
"irreparable harm" to win a new injunction.
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone stopped
the Commerce Department from barring TikTok's data hosting
within the United States and other technical transactions that
she said would effectively ban the use of the app in the
country.
The restrictions were set to take effect Nov. 12. A Justice
Department lawyer told Nichols the government had not decided
whether to appeal Beetlestone's order.
Beetlestone, whose ruling came in a lawsuit filed by three
TikTok users, noted the app has over 100 million U.S. TikTok
users.
On Sept. 27, Nichols issued a preliminary injunction against the
government's order. Beetlestone's order also blocks the app
store download ban.
Talks have been ongoing to finalize a preliminary deal for
Walmart Inc and Oracle Corp to take stakes in a new company to
oversee U.S. operations. U.S. President Donald Trump has said
the deal had his "blessing."
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Richard Chang)
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