The logo of TikTok is seen on a smartphone screen in Arlington, Virginia, the United States, Aug 30, 2020. (PHOTO/XINHUA)

WASHINGTON - The US Justice Department on Wednesday asked two federal appeals courts to put on hold government appeals of lower court rulings blocking restrictions the Trump administration imposed on TikTok.

Under former President Donald Trump, the Commerce Department sought to ban Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google app stores from offering TikTok for download to new users and to ban other technical transactions TikTok said would effectively barred the app’s use in the United States.

The Trump administration had contended that TikTok poses national security concerns. TikTok, which has over 100 million users in the United States, has denied the allegation.

The Trump administration had contended that TikTok poses national security concerns. TikTok, which has over 100 million users in the United States, has denied the allegation

The Justice Department told appeals courts for the District of Columbia and the Third Circuit that the Commerce Department “plans to conduct an evaluation of the underlying record justifying those prohibitions” to determine if they are warranted by the national security threat Trump described.

Late Wednesday, the Third Circuit agreed to cancel oral arguments that had been set for Thursday and directed the government to file a status report in 60 days.

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Earlier, the White House stressed it has taken no new “proactive step” related to a pending plan for US investors to acquire the Chinese-owned company’s American operations.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said “it is not accurate to suggest that there is a new proactive step by the Biden White House” related to TikTok.

A plan to force the sale of TikTok to American investors has been put on hold as the administration of President Joe Biden reviews the security risks of the popular Chinese-owned video app, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

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The Journal, citing unnamed sources, said the Biden White House had indefinitely shelved the plan to require the sale of TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, to US tech giant Oracle with Walmart as a retail partner.

Many key Biden administration officials are not yet in place to review TikTok's status. TikTok declined to comment.

Walmart declined to comment. Oracle did not respond to requests for comment.

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