US bans TikTok, WeChat citing national security concerns, effective Sept 20

The United States Department of Commerce on Friday announced an order prohibiting transactions relating to two popular Chinese mobile applications- WeChat and TikTok, over national security concerns.

The bans announced today are in response to the two Executive Orders signed by President Donald Trump on August 6, 2020, directing the Commerce Department to identify transactions that will be subjected to the prohibition. The department was directed to identify transactions relating to the Tencent-owned WeChat and ByteDance's TikTok within 45 days to protect national security and the private data of millions of people across the country.

"The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the U.S. Today's announced prohibitions when combined, protect users in the U.S. by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality," U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a press release.

According to the commerce department, the threats posed by WeChat and TikTok are not identical but they are similar as both the apps capture vast swaths of information including location data and search histories from U.S. users, leaving the data vulnerable to CCP access and subsequently creating unacceptable risks to the national security.

The bans will be effective from Sunday, September 20. However, if TikTok manages to resolve the national security concerns posed by its platform by November 12, the prohibitions announced in today's order may be lifted.

"The President has provided until November 12 for the national security concerns posed by TikTok to be resolved. If they are, the prohibitions in this order may be lifted," said the commerce department.