TikTok and WeChat Ban Goes Into Effect Sunday, September 20 by the US Department of Commerce for National Security Reasons

Beginning on Sunday, app stores have been ordered to remove the Chinese made apps TikTok and WeChat from their stores and the ban will be in full effect. This comes as these apps pose a threat to national security as the Chinese Communist Party is using app data to “threaten the national security, foreign policy and the economy of the U.S.”, said the Trump administration.

In the announcement made by the Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross said, “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.”

In August, President Trump signed two executive orders stating that if negotiations could not be made for U.S. companies to buy these apps by September 20, then they would be shut down. Oracle and Walmart are potential buyers with the hopes that the buyer will be a “trusted technology partner”, as said by President Trump.

The Department of Commerce said that WeChat will be shut down by midnight on Monday but TikTok is more complicated and so the negotiation deadline has been extended to November 12. If a deal is not made by then, the app will be shut down.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “The details of the various proposals that have been presented I can’t speak to other than to say, our goals are really very simple, protecting American information and data from ending up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Sources: CNBC News, ABC News; Photo-Caixin Global