Ryan

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

PATRICK S. RYAN, Case No. 20-cv-05948-VC

Plaintiff,

ORDER DENYING APPLICATION

v. FOR A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING

ORDER

DONALD J. TRUMP, et al., Re: Dkt. No. 12 Defendants.

Patrick Ryan, an employee of TikTok, seeks a temporary restraining order to prevent enforcement of an executive order issued by President Trump on August 6, 2020. The Executive Order declares TikTok to be a national security threat because it is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese Company, raising the concern that the Chinese government will have access to sensitive information about TikTok users. The actual text of the Executive Order is somewhat difficult to understand, but the upshot is that it requires the Secretary of Commerce, on September 20, 2020, to publish a list of prohibited transactions involving ByteDance or its subsidiaries (including TikTok). Those who engage in prohibited transactions with ByteDance or its subsidiaries (after the Secretary of Commerce identifies the types of transactions) will be subject to criminal prosecution and civil penalties. Ryan is concerned that he could be prosecuted for…