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.
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.”
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China’s Commerce Ministry expressed its “resolute opposition” and urged the United States to stop its bullying and wrongdoing.
“If the U.S. side obstinately clings to its course, China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” it said, without elaborating.
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. For a Q&A on the real impact, click
Washington’s crackdown on WeChat will disrupt communications between millions of people in the United States and their friends, families and business partners in China.
But the app had not managed to reproduce in the US its success in China as the dominant smartphone-based payments platform.
In China, WeChat took the country toward cashless commerce in just a few years, and it is used by hundreds of millions for everyday payments.
It is a kind of universal app, a digital bank account and identification card, for ordering food or a car, sending gifts, managing medical issues, and interfacing government services.
Owned by technology giant TenCent, WeChat in the United States has around 19 million active daily users, said Adam Blacker of Apptopia, a mobile apps consultant.
