Trump Administration May Be Forced To Postpone TikTok Ban: Report

A federal judge has given the administration two options in the case over social app TikTok, as Oracle seeks to acquire a 12.5-percent stake in the app.

TikTok inched closer to averting this Sunday’s U.S. ban as a federal judge issued an order requiring prompt action in the case by the Trump Administration, according to a Bloomberg report.

The judge said that the Trump Administration must either respond to TikTok’s request for a preliminary injunction against the ban by Friday afternoon, or postpone the ban that would take effect Sunday evening.

[Related: TikTok Rejects Microsoft Acquisition Offer, Future Unclear For Oracle Bid]

The ruling comes as Oracle is seeking White House approval for a deal with TikTok’s owner, China-based ByteDance, to become the cloud provider for TikTok and acquire a 12.5-percent stake in the app. The terms of the proposed deal, which also includes an investment by Walmart, haven’t been disclosed.

President Donald Trump previously issued an executive order that would shut down TikTok in the U.S. on Sunday night unless there’s a sale of the app’s U.S. operations. It’s unclear if the Oracle-Walmart deal will satisfy the administration. Last Saturday, Trump said he “approved the deal in concept.”

Trump’s threats to ban TikTok have come as his administration aired concerns that the app could be used by the Chinese government to acquire data on Americans.

On Wednesday, ByteDance requested a preliminary injunction to prevent the removal of TikTok from U.S. app stores on Sunday evening.

According to Bloomberg, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols has ruled that the Trump Administration has until 2:30 p.m. on Friday to decide between the two options, of responding to the injunction request or delaying the TikTok ban.

CRN has reached out to TikTok and Oracle for comment.

Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle said it plans to combine its cloud technology with measures such as code reviews and monitoring to ensure that data for U.S. users of TikTok is kept secure and private.

Oracle co-founder, executive chairman and CTO Larry Ellison is a friend and supporter of Trump. In February, Ellison raised money for Trump’s reelection bid with a lavish golf outing and roundtable at his Rancho Mirage estate in the Southern California desert.

ByteDance previously rejected Microsoft’s bid to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations.