The Trump administration has revealed that it is banning China’s TikTok and WeChat from mobile app stores beginning late Sunday unless Trump agrees to a last minute deal. This development is perhaps an unprecedented move that further unravels the United States’ quickly deteriorating relationship with China.
The White House will take additional action to curb WeChat’s use beginning Sunday and will give TikTok until Nov. 12 before further limitations kick in.
Western companies and bankers are still wrangling with TikTok’s owner, the White House and Chinese authorities to try to arrange a sale of some of TikTok’s business. The short-form video app has seen explosive growth in the United States, where its users number in the tens of millions.
“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,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement. “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.”
After midnight as Sunday turns to Monday, anyone attempting to download TikTok or WeChat from the Apple or Google app stores in the United States will not be able to do so, a senior Commerce Department official said Friday, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations. Users who already have the apps on a phone will not receive software updates or security patches, the official said
The administration expects some users will find ways to continue using the apps and it does not intend to prosecute anyone for doing so, the official said. Its aim is to decrease use of the apps over time, the official said.
“We’re not going to haul some person using WeChat to communicate with persons overseas before a federal judge,” the official said.
On Sunday, the United States will also ban the provision of services that enable WeChat to be used for money transfers or mobile payments. That measure is likely to affect banks and other financial institutions that facilitate the payments.
And as of Sunday for WeChat and Nov. 12 for TikTok, the United States will ban any provision of Internet hosting services, or other network services, that allows the apps to function in the United States.
And it will prohibit any U.S. use of the distinct computer code or functions that underpin both apps, to prevent the Chinese companies from reintroducing the apps under different names, the senior Commerce Department official said.
“The President has provided until November 12 for the national security concerns posed by TikTok to be resolved,” the Commerce Department said in its statement. “If they are, the prohibitions in this order may be lifted.”
TikTok is proposing that it resolve the U.S. concerns by forging a deal with database company Oracle to have the U.S. company secure its data and oversee its technical operations in the country.
That proposal was under last-minute review by the Treasury Department and President Trump on Friday as the Sept. 20 ban deadline loomed.
In a statement Friday after the Commerce Department bans were announced, TikTok said it disagreed with the decision to block new app downloads starting Sunday.
“In our proposal to the U.S. Administration, we’ve already committed to unprecedented levels of additional transparency and accountability well beyond what other apps are willing to do, including third-party audits, verification of code security, and US government oversight of US data security,” the statement from spokeswoman Hilary McQuaide said.
Officials at Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings, the owner of WeChat, said they were reviewing the decision.
“WeChat was designed to serve international users outside of mainland China and has always incorporated the highest standards of user privacy and data security,” Tencent said in a statement. The app’s name inside China is Weixin.
Tencent said it has “engaged in extensive discussions with the U.S. government” and “put forward a comprehensive proposal to address its concerns.”
“The restrictions announced today are unfortunate, but given our desire to provide ongoing services to our users in the U.S. — for whom WeChat is an important communication tool — we will continue to discuss with the government and other stakeholders in the U.S. ways to achieve a long-term solution,” Tencent said.
SOURCE: WashingtonPOST