The Wall Street Journal: TikTok wins stay from shutdown by Commerce Department

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The regulation, which would effectively shut down TikTok in the U.S., was scheduled to go into effect Thursday.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Commerce Department said Thursday that it won’t enforce its order that would have effectively forced the Chinese-owned TikTok video-sharing app to shut down, citing a federal court ruling in Philadelphia.

The department’s action delays implementation of a regulation, set to take effect Thursday, that would have barred U.S. companies such as Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.23%  from offering TikTok as a mobile app, and companies including Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -0.86%  and Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, -0.25%  from offering web-hosting service for TikTok — moves that would effectively make it inoperable.

In making its decision, the Commerce Department cited a preliminary injunction against the shutdown last month by U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone in Philadelphia in a suit brought by three TikTok stars: comedian Douglas Marland, fashion guru Cosette Rinab and musician Alex Chambers.

The Commerce Department statement said that the shutdown order won’t go into effect “pending further legal developments.”

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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