NEW YORK โ A federal judge on Sunday postponed a Trump administration order that would have banned the popular video sharing app TikTok from U.S. smartphone app stores around midnight.
The ruling followed an emergency hearing Sunday morning in which lawyers for TikTok argued that the administration's app-store ban would infringe on First Amendment rights and do irreparable harm to the business.
In arguments to Judge Nichols, TikTok lawyer John Hall said that TikTok is more than an app, since it functions as a โmodern day version of a town square."
In addition, Hall argued that a ban would prevent existing users from automatically receiving security updates, eroding national security.
Trump set the process in motion with executive orders in August that declared TikTok and another Chinese app, WeChat, threats to national security.