A day after he suspended the proposed TikTok ban, the Biden administration is distanced itself from former President Donald Trump’s efforts to ban the Chinese messaging app WeChat
A day after he blocked a proposed TikTok ban, the Biden administration is distanced itself from former President Donald Trump’s efforts to ban the Chinese messaging app WeChat.
The Commerce Department is reviewing recent actions, such as the rules that weaken TikTok and WeChat, to ensure that efforts by the Trump administration to block the ban based on alleged national security threats were justified, according to a government filing Thursday in a suit with WeChat users challenging the ban.
Courts have blocked Trump’s attempt to take action on WeChat, saying it would affect the rights of First Amendment consumers.
WeChat is a messaging app with other features such as social media and payments that dominate in China, where many American social media and messaging apps are banned. It is also popular with many Chinese speakers in the US, with millions of users, as it allows them to connect with friends, family and business people in China. It is owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent.
Within China, WeChat is censored and expected to comply with content restrictions set by authorities. Toronto-based internet watchdog Citizen Lab has said that WeChat monitors files and images distributed abroad to aid censorship in China.
The Trump administration was targeting WeChat and TikTok because of their ownership in China, saying U.S. user data could be shared with the Chinese government. TikTok has denied that it will or will not do this. Tencent has stated that it embodies the highest standards of user privacy and data security.
The bans on efforts were part of tightening tensions with China, which included a trade war, disrupting unions with Chinese companies and hampering the phone maker Huawei’s business. and telecom equipment.