UPDATE: US Government Plans To Ban TikTok And WeChat On Sunday
#Socialites, get into this! This Friday, The Commerce Department announced plans to restrict access to TikTok and WeChat this coming Sunday as the Trump administration’s executive orders against the two apps are set to take effect!
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The Department said that as of Sunday, any moves to distribute or maintain WeChat or TikTok on an app store will be prohibited, CNN notes. While WeChat users will also be banned from transferring funds and processing payments through the messaging apps, further restrictions are expected to be announced later, including against other apps if they are seen to be used as workarounds, the news site reports.
“Today’s actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party,” said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in a release. “At the President’s direction, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws and regulations.”
The move comes after Trump’s August announcement that he will sign an executive order that would effectively ban TikTok in the United States unless the Chinese-owned ByteDance could find an American owner for its US operations by September 20. He expressed concerns that the hugely popular app could be used as a spying tool by Beijing. Not only that, but authorities also fear that it could be leveraged to collect personal data on US citizens.
President Donald Trump demanded the sale of the service in August. Bytedance has been trying to win U.S. approval for a transaction with Oracle that would leave the Chinese-headquartered parent company with majority ownership of TikTok. While it’s unclear where that stands, for now, people can continue to post their short videos content. Once the ban is enacted, however, it’s still not clear what it would mean for users.
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