US court agrees to expedite government TikTok app store ban appeal

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday agreed to fast-track a Justice Department appeal of a ruling blocking the government from banning new TikTok downloads from U.S. app stores.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington issued a preliminary injunction on Sept. 27 that barred the U.S. Commerce Department from ordering Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google app stores to remove the Chinese-owned short video-sharing app for download by new users.

A U.S. appeals court in Washington said all briefs are due by Nov. 12 with oral arguments to follow. The government’s opening brief is due on Friday.

Nichols plans to hold a Nov. 4 hearing on whether to allow the U.S. government to bar transactions with TikTok that it has warned would effectively ban the app’s use in the United States. Those restrictions are set to take effect on Nov. 12.