TikTok, a social media networking platform owned by ByteDance and based in Beijing, China,[2] received criticism by the Trump administration about the data it collects and the security threat it allegedly poses.

[7] Trump reversed this position a few days later, announcing on August 3 that TikTok had until September 15 to sell a majority of its holdings to a company based in the United States.

[8] On August 6, 2020, Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13942, directing the Secretary of Commerce to prohibit any and all transactions with ByteDance under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

[10] Back on August 24, 2020, TikTok announced that it was filing suit against Trump and alleged that the ban violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

[16][17] On December 7, 2020, three days after the deadline to sell the company had passed, Nichols fully blocked Trump's request to ban TikTok in the United States.