Trump to block U.S. downloads of TikTok, WeChat on Sunday - Zoomers eternally mad


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration will ban WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok from U.S. app stores starting Sunday night, a move that will block Americans from downloading the Chinese-owned platforms over concerns they pose a national security threat.

The bans, announced on Friday, affect only new downloads and updates and are less sweeping than expected, particularly for TikTok, giving its parent group ByteDance some breathing space to clinch an agreement over the fate of its U.S. operations.

WeChat, an all-in-one messaging, social media and electronic payment app, faces more severe restrictions from Sunday. Existing TikTok users, on the other hand, will see little change until Nov. 12 when a ban on some technical transactions will kick in, which TikTok said would amount to an effective ban.

“We disagree with the decision from the Commerce Department, and are disappointed that it stands to block new app downloads from Sunday and ban use of the TikTok app in the U.S. from Nov. 12,” the company said in a statement. “We will continue to challenge the unjust executive order, which was enacted without due process and threatens to deprive the American people and small businesses across the U.S. of a significant platform for both a voice and livelihoods.”

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business Network that “the basic TikTok will stay intact until Nov. 12.”

The ban on new U.S. downloads of the widely popular app could still be rescinded by President Donald Trump before it takes effect if ByteDance seals a deal with Oracle that addresses concerns about the security of its users’ data.

“This is the right move - ratchet up the pressure on Beijing, protect Americans,” said Republican Senator Josh Hawley on Twitter.

The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to purge “untrusted” Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks amid escalating tensions with Beijing on a range of issues from trade and human rights to the battle for tech supremacy.

The ban on WeChat, used by over 1 billion people worldwide, bars the transfer of funds or processing of payments to or from people in the United States through it. Users could also start to experience slower service from Sunday night.

The Commerce Department order bars Apple Inc’s app store, Alphabet Inc’s Google Play and others from offering the apps on any platform “that can be reached from within the United States,” a senior Commerce official told Reuters.

While the bans are less dramatic than some had originally feared, Commerce officials said additional transactions could be added at a later date.
Oracle shares were down 0.3% after initially dropping 1.6% in pre-market trading.

The American Civil Liberties Union said the Commerce order “violates the First Amendment rights of people in the United States by restricting their ability to communicate and conduct important transactions on the two social media platforms.”

It added it also “harms the privacy and security of millions of existing TikTok and WeChat users in the United States by blocking software updates, which can fix vulnerabilities and make the apps more secure.”

The order does not ban U.S. companies from doing businesses on WeChat outside the United States, which will be welcome news to U.S. firms like Walmart and Starbucks that use WeChat’s embedded ‘mini-app’ programs to facilitate transactions and engage consumers in China, officials said.

The order will not bar transactions with WeChat-owner Tencent Holdings’ other businesses, including its online gaming operations, and will not prohibit Apple, Google or others from offering TikTok or WeChat apps anywhere outside the United States.
The bans are in response to a pair of executive orders issued by Trump on Aug. 6 that gave the Commerce Department 45 days to determine what transactions to block from the apps he deemed pose a national security threat. That deadline expires on Sunday.

Commerce Department officials said they were taking the extraordinary step because of the risks the apps’ data collection poses. China and the companies have denied U.S. user data is collected for spying.

Ross said in a written statement “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.”

Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Still Anonymous For This said:
Wife and I use WeChat to talk to her parents back in China. It sucks that we're going to have to find an alternative, but this isn't America's fault. The CCP is a piece of shit.

I'd love to tell my father-in-law that without having to worry about going to a black prison to never be seen again. Fuck China.
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You are based for having an asian wife.
 
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Still Anonymous For This said:
Wife and I use WeChat to talk to her parents back in China. It sucks that we're going to have to find an alternative, but this isn't America's fault. The CCP is a piece of shit.

I'd love to tell my father-in-law that without having to worry about going to a black prison to never be seen again. Fuck China.
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its both governments fault
its the CCPs fault for being authoritarian retards and its Trump's fault for making matters worse
 
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Talk about playing into g's hands though, with the yt shorts now coming into play. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
 
kcbbq said:
The president always has had sole, and very broad power over national security issues. It's never been an issue to be "let out of the bag", it's in the Constitution. The president can cut off entire countries pretty much at a whim - for example, JFK's embargo of Cuba.
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I kind of figured that, since Trump typically doesn't pull shit like this unless he's sure he's covered to do it.

That doesn't change my sentiment nor the fact that people shouldn't be cheering this on in this political climate. It's "out of the bag" so to speak not because the president couldn't do it before, but the screeching jackasses who call for Orange Man's head are now aware of another avenue in which to fuck over their perceived opposition when they come into power themselves.
 
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Syaoran Li said:
True, but the Biden Administration would likely reverse that executive order as soon as he's sworn in.

A lot is riding on Trump winning a second term, since it gives him four years to actually get shit done since the GOP sat on their asses until the 2018 midterms and the Kavanaugh hearings forced them to wake up to how bad the Democrats really were.

Plus, a Trump win in spite of all the crazy bullshit that's been happening in 2020 is the kind of thing that will force the Democrat corporate establishment to clean house internally and subtly begin a shift of the narrative to win back the normies and calm them down for the next round of the "culture wars" and it could also blackpill the Woke Left or make them get desperate and do something so awful that not even the MSM would cover their asses.

As it is, I think the only reason why the MSM has been cutting them so much slack nowadays is because of the election this year.
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As far as I'm aware, due to the dems blocking Trump from doing the same to DACA, any biden administration simply can't undo an executive order. Yet one more thing that the Dems have done that will bite them in the ass in short order.
 
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A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's executive order banning WeChat downloads in the United States.
In issuing the preliminary injunction, Judge Laurel Beeler wrote that the plaintiffs — a group of US-based WeChat users who stand to be affected by Trump's ban — had shown "serious questions" in their claim that the executive order threatens the users' First Amendment rights.
"The plaintiffs' evidence reflects that WeChat is effectively the only means of communication for many in the community, not only because China bans other apps, but also because Chinese speakers with limited English proficiency have no options other than WeChat," Beeler wrote.
Nor does the order escape First Amendment scrutiny under an easier standard known as intermediate scrutiny, the judge said, because the ban on WeChat does not provide enough evidence that it is narrowly tailored to resolve the US government's national security concerns with respect to the app.
"And, as the plaintiffs point out," Beeler wrote, "there are obvious alternatives to a complete ban, such as barring WeChat from government devices, as Australia has done, or taking other steps to address data security."
The injunction against the ban comes after President Trump said Saturday he has approved a deal involving TikTok, Oracle and Walmart. The Commerce Department had issued restrictions against both TikTok and WeChat that were set to go into effect Sunday evening, but delayed the implementation of the TikTok restrictions for one week.
The WeChat ban, however, will now be stayed nationwide as a result of Judge Beeler's order. The judge's order not only blocks the Trump administration's attempted ban on downloads of WeChat, but also blocks the government's effort to restrict internet infrastructure companies from carrying or hosting WeChat's internet traffic.
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Is anyone surprised at this point?
 
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Observotron said:
And don't you have flooding, starvation, concentration camps, and an even more corrupt government to worry about?
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I don't think they're even Chinese. They're like that one retard who thought he could get social credit when he moved to China by showing them his posts here.
 
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Made In China said:
Don't you guys have bigger things to worry about than the CCP, like your own government?
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Considering Nacy Pelosi had a ChiCom spy as her chauffeur for ages, wouldn't you say the CCP is already in our own government, and by going after them we can also clean our own house?
 
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