US to ban TikTok, WeChat from Sunday: officials

Published Fri, Sep 18, 2020 · 09:50 PM

Washington

THE Trump administration will ban WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok from US 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.

Current TikTok users will see little change on Sunday, and US Commerce Department officials said they will not bar additional technical transactions for TikTok until Nov 12, which gives the company time to see if owner ByteDance can clinch an agreement over the fate of its US operations. "The basic TikTok will stay intact until Nov 12," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business Network on Friday.

The ban on new US downloads of the widely popular app could still be rescinded by President Donald Trump before it takes effect. ByteDance has been in talks with Oracle and others to create a new company, TikTok Global, that aims to address US concerns about the security of its users' data.

The Commerce Department order bars Apple's app store, Alphabet'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 said. The department said the actions will "protect users in the US by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality".

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

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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 Mr 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.

WeChat has had an average of 19 million daily active users in the US, analytics firms Apptopia said in early August. WeChat is an all-in-one mobile app that combines services similar to Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Venmo. The app is an essential part of daily life for many in China and boasts more than one billion users. REUTERS

READ MORE: TikTok owner more certain of Beijing nod on Oracle deal

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