Biden admin asks court to temporarily halt WeChat ban, says 'will review Trump's order'

US President Joe Biden's administration has temporarily halted the ban on Chinese messaging app WeChat, saying it would review the prohibition imposed by the previous government and decide whether the ban is justified. Biden's Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday asked the appeals court to temporarily suspend the litigation filed by WeChat users in response to the proposed ban by the previous administration so it could review the order and decide whether the prohibition is warranted. This comes a day after the US government halted the ban on TikTok. 

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The Department of Justice in a court filing said that the newly-installed Commerce Department has started to review the ban on the Chinese messaging app and will then determine whether the prohibition order by the previous administration citing national security threats was justified. 

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Trump's ban on TikTok & WeChat

Former President Donald Trump had issued an executive order last year banning both TikTok and WeChat citing national security threats. The previous administration accused the Chinese apps of stealing the personal data of millions of Americans and sharing them with the Communist government in Beijing. Both companies dismissed the allegations levelled by the Trump administration. US courts blocked the ban in October last year and allowed TikTok and WeChat to remain on US servers for the time being citing the First Amendment Rights of users.  

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WeChat is largely used by Chinese expatriates, who use the app to communicate with their families back home. WeChat is a popular messaging app in China as most people use it for day-to-day communication. Experts suggest that the Trump administration's decision to impose a ban on TikTok and WeChat was part of the tensions between the US and Chinese governments, which also included a trade war between the two nations. The previous administration had played the trade war by targetting Chinese tech companies in the United States, including Huawei.  

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