The moves would effectively disable US use of WeChat - a so-called super-app used for messaging, shopping, payments and other services - and TikTok from the online marketplaces operated by Apple and Google.Īfter Sunday, services on WeChat will be "degraded", said a senior US Commerce Department official, who added that existing users may retain some capability. Some analysts say Trump's moves are motivated more by business competition than security concerns. It's a serious restriction on the First Amendment rights of US citizens and residents," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. "It's a mistake to think of this as (only) a sanction on TikTok and WeChat.
#Wechat us ban free#
It also maintained that the ban violates the right to free speech as well as due process, both enshrined in the US Constitution.Ĭritics added that while the security risks were unclear, the sweeping ban raises concerns about the US government's ability to regulate free expression. The administration's decision was made "for political reasons rather than because of any 'unusual and extraordinary threat' to the United States," the parent company said in the court filing. With President Donald Trump facing a tough re-election campaign, US officials have described the measures as essential to safeguard national security from potential Chinese espionage through the platforms.īut in a response to the US steps, China's Commerce Ministry on Saturday condemned what it called US "bullying", saying it violated international trade norms and that there was no evidence of any security threat, shortly before announcing the new sanctions regime.īytedance late Friday asked a US court to block the ban on downloading the TikTok app, asserting that it would respect the security and privacy of American users. That timeframe potentially allows for a tie-up between TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, and a US company to safeguard data for the wildly popular app to allay Washington's security concerns. TikTok users will be banned from installing updates but could keep accessing the service through November 12. Under Friday's US order against the Chinese apps, Tencent-owned WeChat would lose functionality in the United States from Sunday. It covers "foreign enterprises, other organisations and individuals", the ministry said. Punitive measures may include fines against the foreign entity, banning it from conducting trade and investment in China, and restrictions on the entry of personnel or equipment into the country. That language closely tracks wording that Beijing has used to repeatedly denounce US actions against Chinese companies. But it said the new system would consider sanctions on entities whose activities "harm China's national sovereignty, security, and development interests" or violate "internationally accepted economic and trade rules".
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