WIN.
On Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department announced that they would be banning WeChat and TikTok From U.S. app stores effective Sunday. They’ll also be barring the apps from accessing essential internet services in the U.S., effectively scuttling their operations in the States.
This will mostly affect WeChat, though. TikTok will evade the nastier parts of the ban until after the November 3rd election.
The move comes due to pressure on the Commerce Department via an executive order by President Trump. The Commerce Department had this to say in a prepared statement on the matter:
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.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
Needless to say, TikTok is not happy. Tencent, which owns WeChat, is not happy. And neither Google, Apple, nor Oracle (who was previously part of the arrangement made to avoid this in TikTok’s case) have commented on the matter.
The order requires WeChat to end all payments for business transactions through its service by Sunday. The app is used to keep in touch with Chinese businesses by some, and family by others. That said, the Justice Department has stated that they won’t target users with civil or criminal penalties for using the app. WeChat users have sued to stop the ban, with a federal judge in California setting a hearing for 1:30 pm, Saturday, Pacific Time.
Personal opinion on my part, at least in regards to TikTok? Well:
I really hate TikTok and its “stars”.
Source: MSN
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