US Hits Pause On TikTok Ban

The US government announced on Thursday it would delay enforcement of a ban on TikTok, saying it would comply with a court order in favor of the Chinese-owned social media sensation.

The hit short-form video app was forbidden based on national security concerns voiced by US officials, but the Commerce Department said it was holding off due to an injunction by a federal judge issued on October 30.

"The department is complying with the terms of this order," it said in a statement, adding that the ban "has been enjoined and will not go into effect pending further legal developments."

The government on Thursday appealed against the judge's decision.

The news comes amid a torrent of litigation following US President Donald Trump's move to ban the fast-growing app unless it were sold to American investors.

A federal court in Pennsylvania on October 30 blocked the Trump administration from carrying out the ban, in a case brought by TikTok "creators".

A separate case brought by TikTok itself is pending in another court in the US capital, which last month blocked the US government from enforcing a ban on new downloads of the app.

TikTok parent firm ByteDance had been given until Thursday to restructure ownership of the app in the United States to address national security concerns, but it filed a petition in a Washington court this week asking for a delay.

The company said in a Tuesday statement that it had asked the government for a 30-day extension because of "continual new requests and no clarity on whether our proposed solutions would be accepted," but it was not granted.

The Trump administration has been seeking to transfer ownership of TikTok to an American business to allay security concerns, but no deal has been finalised.

ByteDance and TikTok have proposed creating a new company with IT firm Oracle as a technology partner and retail giant Walmart as a business partner.

TikTok has 100 million users in the United States. (AFP)