TikTok Still Breathing In U.S. As Judge Delays Ban

A federal judge has delayed the Trump administration's 11:59 P.M. Sunday night ban on TikTok, keeping the site breathing in the United States for at least a little while longer.

The administration has been working to ban the app since August, citing privacy concerns that the app's parent company, Bytedance, is collecting data of United States citizens. The company has denied these claims.

The app's ban has already been delayed until November 12th pending a deal between ByteDance, Oracle and Walmart, the latter two of which would own a minority stake in the newly-created TikTok Global, but the administration has been pushing to prevent downloads of the app until the deal gets done. The latest delay gives the companies time to finalize that deal done and keeps TikTok operating for the time being.

Lawyers for TikTok argued that Trump only began targeting the app after reports that users there helped ensure a low turnout for Trump at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They also stated that taking the app down would harm TikTok's business and deprive users of security updates.

While Judge Carl Nichols agreed, he gave no ruling on the pending November 12th ban.