Biden administration asks federal court to pause move to ban TikTok

The newly appointed Biden administration has asked the US Federal court to pause proceedings aimed at banning TikTok to allow for a fresh review of the National security threat from the popular Chinese owned app. The top Democrat has called for a halt on the immediate ban of the famous video sharing application until a newly initiated review is not completed. This comes in contrast to his predecessor Donald Trump, who had accused the Chinese owned app of spying on Americas and had pressed for its ban at the earliest.   

According to the filings made in the court, the US Department of Commerce was currently planning to conduct an evaluation of the underlying record justifying those prohibitions' sought by the previous administration of Donald Trump, which claimed TikTok posed a national security threat because of its links to the Chinese government. It added that only after these reviews, would the new administration ‘be better positioned to determine whether the national security threat' from TikTok. 

"The Department of Commerce remains committed to a robust defence of national security as well as ensuring the viability of our economy and preserving individual rights and data privacy," an extract from the filing read. 

TikTok is a Chinese application where users can watch, create and share contents to gain popularity and viewership. The entertainment app is owned by a Chinese app development company called ByteDance. The application was, last year, called out by the then US National Security Advisor, Robert O'Brien, who publicly stated that the Chinese Government was using TikTok for its own purposes. Following which, Trump targetted the application using several executive orders aimed at ending its use in the US. Despite numerous tries, US courts repeatedly and temporarily blocked the White House’s attempted ban. 

Read: Is TikTok Banned In America? Here Are The Details On The App's Future In The USA

Read: Follow India’s Lead To Ban TikTok, Other Chinese Apps: US Congress Members Urge Trump

Read:Telegram Beats TikTok; Becomes Jan's Most Downloaded Non-gaming App With 6.3 Mn Installs

Read: TikTok Posts Gratitude Note For Team In India Days After Slashing Staff Amid Prolonged Ban

India bans TikTok

In June last year, the Home Ministry had banned 59 Chinese Apps including Tik-Tok. The Centre had stated that it received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of these apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers that have locations outside India. Hence, in a move to protect the sovereignty of Indian Cyberspace and to ensure the interests of crores of Indian mobile users, the government stated that this was a major blow to China’s Digital Silk Route ambitions.