TikTok repeats as highest earning social media app in third quarter

TikTok was again the highest earning social media app in the last three months, despite a tumultuous couple of months over the fate of the popular video sharing platform in the U.S. due to challenges posed by the Trump administration. 

It was the second consecutive quarter TikTok ranked above other nongame apps, according to data released by marketing intelligence group Sensor Tower on Thursday.

YouTube, Tinder, Tencent Video and Disney+ round out the top five grossing nongame apps in the last three months, according to the data, which does not include revenue from in-app advertising. 

TikTok was also the most downloaded nongame app in the third quarter, followed by Facebook, Zoom, WhatsApp and Instagram. 

President Trump has pushed to overhaul how the Chinese-owned platform operates in the U.S., due to potential security concerns the administration has raised. The administration’s concerns around TikTok are related to the Trump administration’s larger efforts to clamp down on Chinese tech companies amid increasing tensions between China and the U.S.

A federal judge on Sunday temporarily blocked the federal ban on the app. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, wrote that while the Trump administration “has provided ample evidence that China presents a significant national security threat,” the “specific evidence of the threat” posed by TikTok “remains less substantial.”

The judge’s order allows TikTok to operate normally in the U.S. at least until a full court hearing can be held. It blocks a Commerce Department deadline that would have removed TikTok from app stores on Sept. 27. 

The Beijing-based ByteDance has yet to receive final approval from the federal government on its new arrangement with American companies Oracle and Walmart.

A proposed TikTok deal under consideration by Beijing and Washington would establish a U.S.-headquartered TikTok Global and include a partnership with the two American companies but would preserve the involvement of Beijing-based Byte Dance.