The U.S. Department of Commerce said that it wouldn’t enforce its order that would have forced the Chinese-owned TikTok video sharing app to shut down, The Wall Street Journal reported. The reason is due to the result of a lawsuit.
In September of 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a prohibition on transactions relating to mobile apps WeChat and TikTok. It would have barred companies from providing internet hosting or content-delivery services to TikTok. This would have resulted in making TikTok inoperable in the United States.
In October of 2020, three popular TikTok creators, Douglas Marland, Cosette Rinab, and Alec Chambers filed a lawsuit against the Department of Commerce. TechCrunch reported that each have millions of followers on TikTok. Their argument was that banning the app would make them lose access to their followers, and impact their ability to earn a living.
U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Wendy Beetlestone granted the three TikTok creators the preliminary injunction hey asked for. According to NBC News, Judge Beetlestone also found that the government had gone beyond the authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
As a result, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the preliminary injunction enjoined it from enforcing the prohibition on TikTok. It appears that the U.S. government intends to appeal this ruling.