• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, November 13, 2020

The White House is appealing an order issued late last month that prohibits the government from effectively shutting down the social video app TikTok in the U.S.

That earlier ruling, handed down October 30 by U.S. District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, came in a lawsuit brought after three TikTok influencers who sought to invalidate a Commerce Department order that would have forced the company to find a U.S. buyer or stop operating in the country by November 12.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department said it had extended that deadline until November 27 -- though as a practical matter, Beetlestone's injunction prevents the Commerce Department from enforcing its directive to shut down or sell itself to a U.S. company.

At the same time, the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday appealed Beetlestone's ruling to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. The government has not yet made any substantive arguments to that court.

The battle over TikTok dates to August, when President Trump said the Chinese-owned company posed a security risk and mandated a ban on all U.S. transactions with the company. The Commerce Department subsequently issued an order implementing that ban.

The Commerce Department's order sparked several lawsuits, including the one that resulted in Beetlestone's order.

That case was filed by Douglas Marland, Cosette Rinab and Alec Chambers, who alleged they rely on income from TikTok. Chambers said he earned $12,000 for promoting the Extra gum on the platform, while Rinab -- who creates fashion videos -- earns between $5,000 and $10,000 per video.

Beetlestone said in her ruling that the trio was likely to suffer irreparable harm if the order went into effect.

She also said Trump's order wasn't authorized by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. That law allows the president to declare a national emergency and restrict some -- but not all -- transactions with foreign countries.

The law specifically does not authorize the president to regulate “informational material,” including photos and news feeds.

A different judge, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, D.C., previously blocked a more limited restriction that would have prohibited platforms from offering downloads of the app, owned by ByteDance. The government has appealed that ruling to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In September, Oracle and Walmart agreed to purchase TikTok from ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns the app, but whether that deal will be finalized remains unclear.