TikTok and WeChat: US to ban app downloads within 48 hours

TikTok and WeChat will be banned from US app stores starting Sunday, unless President Donald Trump agrees to a last-minute deal.

The Commerce Department said it would prohibit people in the United States from downloading the messaging and video-sharing apps through any app store on any platform.

The Trump administration says that companies threaten national security and could pass user data to China.

But China and both companies deny it.

WeChat will effectively shut down in the US on Sunday, but people will still be able to use TikTok until November 12, when it could also be completely banned.

TikTok said it was “disappointed” with the request and disagreed with the commerce department, saying it had already committed to “unprecedented levels of additional transparency” in light of the Trump administration’s concerns.

“We will continue to challenge the unjust executive order, which was enacted without due process and threatens to deprive the American people and small businesses in the United States of a meaningful platform for both a voice and a livelihood.”

It is not yet clear whether Trump will approve the deal, but he is expected to review it before Sunday’s deadline.

The department acknowledged that the threats posed by WeChat and TikTok were not identical, but said that each collected “vast amounts of user data, including network activity, location data, and browsing and search histories.”

The order means that starting Sunday, people will not be able to use WeChat to transfer funds or process payments to or from people in the US.

But TikTok users will still be able to use your app almost normally, although they won’t be able to download new updates.

“The president has provided until November 12 for the national security concerns raised by TikTok to be resolved,” the commerce department said. After this point, some technical transactions will be prohibited in the application and the functionality will be affected.

When asked about the order on Fox Business Network, Ross said that “basic TikTok will remain intact until November 12,” but added that WeChat “for all practical purposes … will be closed in the US, But only in the US, starting at midnight on Monday. “

The Trump administration has repeatedly said that the apps are a threat because of their data collection.

Friday’s statement from the commerce department said the ruling Chinese Communist Party “has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States.”

ByteDance has denied having user data in China, saying it is stored in the US and Singapore. Tencent, which owns WeChat, has said that messages on its app are private.

While TikTok has millions of users in the US, it is unclear how many of WeChat’s 1 billion users are based outside of China, although that is likely to be a significant number.

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office, a privacy watchdog, is also investigating the app.

Hina Shamsi, director of the National Security Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the order violated First Amendment rights.

“The order also damages the privacy and security of millions of existing TikTok and WeChat users in the United States by blocking software updates, which can fix vulnerabilities and make applications more secure,” he said.

TikTok is a video sharing application. Users can post up to one minute of video and have access to a vast database of songs and filters.

It collects a large amount of user data, including the videos people watch and comment on, location data, phone model, and even how people type. But much of this data collection is similar to other social networks like Facebook.

In September, the company said it had more than 100 million users. It is believed to have more than 800 million members worldwide.

WeChat was created in 2011. It is a multipurpose application that allows users to send messages, make mobile payments and use local services. It has been described as an “app for everything” in China and has more than 1 billion monthly users.

But WeChat insists that encryption means that others cannot “snoop” on your messages, and that content such as text, audio and images is not stored on its servers and is removed once all intended recipients have read them.