A federal judge has blocked President Donald
Trump’s attempts to ban TikTok, the latest legal
defeat for the administration as it tries to wrest
the popular app from its Chinese owners.
The Trump administration had tried to ban
the short-form video app from smartphone
app stores in the U.S. and cut it off from vital
technical services. TikTok sued, arguing such
actions would violate free speech and due
process rights.
Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court
in Washington, D.C., said in a ruling that the
Commerce Department “likely overstepped”
its use of presidential emergency powers “and
acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by
failing to consider obvious alternatives.”
Nichols is the second federal judge to fully block
the Trump administration’s economic sanctions
against the app as the court cases proceed.