TikTok has gotten a reprieve from a case it filed against the US Commerce Department challenging its order to bar the Chinese video app from operating in the United States. The order which would have taken effect on Nov. 12 was blocked by a judge in Pennsylvania on Friday.

US District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone enjoined the Commerce Department from barring data hosting within the United States for TikTok, content delivery services and other technical transactions according to Reuters.

Beetlestone said in her ruling that the order would “have the effect of shutting down, within the United States, a platform for expressive activity used by approximately 700 million individuals globally. Over 100 million of these TikTok users are within the United States, and at least 50 million of these US users use the app on a daily basis.”

This is a second victory for TikTok, after a District Judge Carl Nichols had on Sept. 27, in Washington, issued a preliminary injunction in a suit brought by TikTok’s parent, ByteDance, stopping the US Commerce Department from ordering Apple and Google to stop TikTok’s app from being downloaded from their respective stores.

Reuters reported that Nichols will hold a Nov. 4 hearing on the other aspects of the Commerce Department order that Beetlestone blocked on Friday.

The report said the order by Beetlestone, in a suit brought by three TikTok content creators, also blocks the app store download ban.

TikTok said in a statement that it was “deeply moved by the outpouring of support” from its users “who have worked to protect their rights to expression.”

TitkTok is expanding rapidly around the world.

The company had in August filed a suit against the United States government over what it described as an attempt to “suppress free speech”.

“We do not take suing the government lightly; however we feel we have no choice but to take action to protect our rights, and the rights of our community and employees. Our more than 1,500 employees across the US pour their hearts into building this platform every day,” the company said in its suit.

The ruling has turned the table against Washington who had had upper hand in the tussle before now.

The US president Donald Trump had in August signed an executive order which outlawed any transaction between ByteDance, TikTok and American people, was going to effectively ban TikTok, unless it’s sold to American company in 45 days.

The US’ attempt to ban TikTok stemmed from concern that the short video app may pose a national security risk, as it collects private data of millions of Americans daily. Washington said TikTok may be forced by the Chinese government to submit the data.

ByteDance had sought other means, including moving its headquarters from China, to get the US government to rescind its decision, but the attempts failed.

TikTok was forced to strike a deal with Oracle and Walmart to become a “trusted security provider”, a deal which was acceptable to both Washington and ByteDance as it cut the chase of selling TikTok.

Beijing reviewed its technology export laws to require a government’s license for a deal such as the sale of TikTok, in an attempt to frustrate the US’ push to sell the app, as Beijing is not willing to let the app’s algorithm into the hands of a foreign government.

Talks have been ongoing to finalize a preliminary deal for Walmart and Oracle to take stakes in a new company, TikTok Global, that would oversee US operations. A deal Trump approved saying it has his “blessing”, according to Reuters.

It is not clear how events will turn following this ruling.

“Sir, this year no balance o. There were only six months this year so I will pay half rent…Don’t worry sir, you can’t take me to court or call the police for me or even call the army because all of them are not working now.”

That was the banter I had with my landlord’s lawyer some days ago when he called to remind me that my rent will soon be due. We laughed over it and made more silly jokes about the current situation of things in the “post-protest-and-looting” Nigerian era. We actually had a lot of stories to tell concerning this point in time.

But I stopped laughing about our predicament when I left my house for my office. I stayed in a gridlock for about an hour and began to curse the absence of the traffic wardens. You might not believe me if I tell you that there was no reason for this traffic jam except that every driver wanted to be the first to cross a T-junction. We all wanted to get to our destinations in time and so everybody nosed his car into the road, hoping that the ones coming from the other directions will wait for him. But when everybody is in a hurry, no one gets to his destination on time. And so, we stayed on the road, cursing and abusing one another until military men from the 84 Division came to the rescue.

That moment I was stuck in the gridlock reminded me of the importance of law and order. I was not only afraid of being crushed by trailers struggling on the road with us but also scared that someone might reach out through the window and make away with my belongings. There was no police officer in sight and there was no one that would have stopped something sinister from happening. It was all man to himself. Everybody was on his own. The strong suppressed the weak and the big sat on the small. Nigerians really showcased their “talents” at that moment.

But gridlock is just one of the happenings in Nigeria today. Have you gone to market after the violence and looting that rocked the country? What can you say about the sudden surge in the prices of goods? Have you noticed something about certain food items becoming scarce all of a sudden? What can you say about onions, tomato puree (aka tin and sachet tomato), rice, meat, among others? Can we survive this one so?

What about obtaining cash? Have you noticed how POS centres are springing up left and right and centre within this past week? How much did you pay to withdraw money from POS? Here in Enugu we pay five to ten percent of the amount you are about to withdraw. It is more like buying cash these days. As for the ATM, we all know how they were vandalised. The ones that were still left standing were either not operational or loaded with little cash. It is so bad that by the end of the day, you might stay an hour on ATM queue and be told “Temporarily unable to dispense cash” when it comes to your turn.

The essence of stating these is just to reveal some of the aftermath of the violence and looting the country experienced the past week. The hoodlums and the looters first destabilised the security system in the country to make sure they will not be “bothered” as they carried out their operations. But the majority of us clapped for them and encouraged them. We thought they were dealing with the “government” forgetting that nobody’s name is “government” and that those things that were destroyed will be repaired with “our money”. Someone told me that those in authority will use the money they would have looted to fix the damages but she forgot that no one will force the government to fix them on time. Hence, we are going to “enjoy” the mess caused by our children until god knows when.

But the looting and damages on private properties is what many of us did not envisage. Like the Igbos say, “Onye nna ya ziri ori na-eji ukwu agbawa uzo”, meaning that when you encourage a person to do what is wrong, he will go the extra mile. Hence, while we clapped for and fanned the flame of destruction in the “youths”, we never knew that the fire we helped to create will locate us. So here we are, finally paying for all those things in different forms – scarcity of food, scarcity of cash, lawlessness, loss of lives and properties, loss of jobs, mental and psychological disturbances, and insecurity.

I am happy the IGP of police, Adamu Mohammed, has enjoined the police officers to go back to duty, even though I am worried that he asked them to start defending themselves whenever they feel threatened. Hopefully, the return of the police will bring in some sanity. Maybe when they come back to work, the scarcity of cash as a result of non-working ATMs will be a thing of the past. Maybe distributors and traders will feel more at ease with moving their goods around the country. Maybe I will not be stuck in a gridlock for hours again.