US bans Chinese apps WeChat and TikTok from Sept 20 citing national security

The US Department of Commerce, on September 18, announced prohibitions on transactions relating to Chinese apps WeChat and TikTok in a bid to safeguard the national security. According to a press release, the US will bar Americans from downloading both the mobile applications from either Apple or Google’s app storefronts starting on September 20. The Commerce Department confirmed that the new order will prohibit any provision of service to distribute or maintain WeChat or TikTok, constituent code or application updates through an online mobile application store in the US. 

U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said, “Today’s actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party”. 

“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,” Ross added.

READ: Trump Not Ready To OK TikTok Deal, Admits US Won't Get Cut

The press release read that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had demonstrated the means and motives to use mobile applications to threaten national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the United States. Further, it said that the new prohibitions will help protect users in the US by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality. 

READ: Trump Not Ready To Approve Oracle-TikTok Deal As Majority Stake Lies With Chinese Company

Threats posed are ‘not identical, but similar’

The US officials believe that the threats posed by WeChat and TikTok are ‘not identical’, however, they are similar. Both the mobile applications are believed to collect ‘vast swaths of data’ from users, including network activity, location data, and browsing and search histories. The Department of Commerce said that the Chinese-owned apps is an ‘active participant in China’s civil-military fusion’ and is subject to ‘mandatory cooperation with the intelligence services of the CCP’. 

The ban could still be rescinded as the US President Donald Trump has provided until November 12 for the national security concerns posed by TikTok to be resolved. The US government also added that if WeChat’s or TikTok’s illicit behaviour is being replicated by another app somehow outside the scope of these executive orders, Trump has the authority to consider whether additional orders may be appropriate to address such activities. 

READ: Trump Says Oracle 'very Close To A Deal' Over ByteDance’s TikTok

READ: Oracle Wins TikTok Over Microsoft In Trump-urged Bid