Biden drops Trump attempt to ban TikTok, WeChat; orders new review

بايدن يلغي قرارات تنفيذية تستهدف
بايدن يلغي قرارات تنفيذية تستهدف "تيك توك" و"وي تشات"

President Joe Biden on Wednesday withdrew a series of Trump-era executive orders that sought to ban new downloads of WeChat and TikTok, and ordered a Commerce Department review of security concerns posed by those apps and others.

The administration of former President Donald Trump had attempted to block new users from downloading the apps and ban other technical transactions that Chinese-owned short video-sharing app TikTok and WeChat both said would effectively block the apps’ use in the United States.

The courts blocked those orders, which never took effect.

A separate U.S. national security review of TikTok launched in late 2019 remains active and ongoing, a White House official said, declining to offer any details. The White House remains very concerned about the data risks of TikTok users, another administration official told reporters.

TikTok declined to comment. WeChat did not immediately comment

“This is a positive step in the right direction,” said Gao Feng, spokesperson at the Chinese commerce ministry, at a regular press conference on Thursday. Gao added that China had noticed that the United States requires a new security review of the apps, and hopes that “the U.S. will treat Chinese companies fairly and avoid politicizing economic and trade issues.

WeChat, which has been downloaded at least 19 million times by U.S. users, is widely used as a medium for services, games and payments.

Source :Reuters