Despite US President Donald Trump only having a few weeks left in office, his administration isn't giving up its goal of banning TikTok. The Trump administration has appealed a court ruling that blocked the ban of TikTok.

Trump's Quest to Ban TikTok Continues

On December 7, 2020, US District Judge Carl Nichols blocked the Department of Commerce's looming ban on the app. The harsh restrictions would've stopped all downloads of TikTok from the Google Play Store and App Store.

The Trump administration began its battle against TikTok in August 2020, when President Trump filed an executive order to ban the app. Trump accused the Chinese-owned app of stealing data from American users. He then urged ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to sell its US assets to an American company.

Since then, ByteDance has been given several deadlines to divest TikTok's US assets. Not only was the company was given extensions, but it was also granted a preliminary injunction in September 2020 that temporarily prevented a ban on the app.

Although the Trump administration was adamant about banning TikTok in the beginning, the administration seemed to forget about the ban altogether in November. TikTok's ban hung in limbo, and the Trump administration gave the app yet another deadline.

The final deadline for a TikTok sale was set for December 4. However, a sale wasn't made and, ironically enough, the Trump administration didn't go through with a ban.

Will a TikTok Ban Ever Occur?

For months now, ByteDance has been trying to work out a deal with Oracle and Walmart. The company plans on making Oracle TikTok's "trusted technology partner," which isn't really a full sale of its US assets.

ByteDance also mentioned that it wants to create a new company in the US, called TikTok Global. The company is supposed to be a partnership between TikTok, Oracle, and Walmart, but there hasn't been any word on whether this company will ever come to fruition.

The Trump administration's last-ditch efforts to ban TikTok seem to be in vain. The administration has now filed an appeal against Judge Nichols' December 7 ruling. But judging by the Trump administration's flimsy deadlines and its inability to ban the app since August, it's becoming more unlikely that a ban will ever occur.

TikTok Remains Unphased by a Potential Ban

Since President-elect Joe Biden will assume office in 2021, TikTok will probably be safe from a potential ban. And even with the possibility of a potential ban, TikTok continues to roll out new features for its users as if nothing's wrong.