Trump to block U.S. downloads of TikTok, WeChat on Sunday - Zoomers eternally mad

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration will ban WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok from U.S. app stores starting Sunday night, a move that will block Americans from downloading the Chinese-owned platforms over concerns they pose a national security threat.

The bans, announced on Friday, affect only new downloads and updates and are less sweeping than expected, particularly for TikTok, giving its parent group ByteDance some breathing space to clinch an agreement over the fate of its U.S. operations.

WeChat, an all-in-one messaging, social media and electronic payment app, faces more severe restrictions from Sunday. Existing TikTok users, on the other hand, will see little change until Nov. 12 when a ban on some technical transactions will kick in, which TikTok said would amount to an effective ban.

“We disagree with the decision from the Commerce Department, and are disappointed that it stands to block new app downloads from Sunday and ban use of the TikTok app in the U.S. from Nov. 12,” the company said in a statement. “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 across the U.S. of a significant platform for both a voice and livelihoods.”

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business Network that “the basic TikTok will stay intact until Nov. 12.”

The ban on new U.S. downloads of the widely popular app could still be rescinded by President Donald Trump before it takes effect if ByteDance seals a deal with Oracle that addresses concerns about the security of its users’ data.

“This is the right move - ratchet up the pressure on Beijing, protect Americans,” said Republican Senator Josh Hawley on Twitter.

The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to purge “untrusted” Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks amid escalating tensions with Beijing on a range of issues from trade and human rights to the battle for tech supremacy.

The ban on WeChat, used by over 1 billion people worldwide, bars the transfer of funds or processing of payments to or from people in the United States through it. Users could also start to experience slower service from Sunday night.

The Commerce Department order bars Apple Inc’s app store, Alphabet Inc’s Google Play and others from offering the apps on any platform “that can be reached from within the United States,” a senior Commerce official told Reuters.

While the bans are less dramatic than some had originally feared, Commerce officials said additional transactions could be added at a later date.
Oracle shares were down 0.3% after initially dropping 1.6% in pre-market trading.

The American Civil Liberties Union said the Commerce order “violates the First Amendment rights of people in the United States by restricting their ability to communicate and conduct important transactions on the two social media platforms.”

It added it also “harms 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 the apps more secure.”

The order does not ban U.S. companies from doing businesses on WeChat outside the United States, which will be welcome news to U.S. firms like Walmart and Starbucks that use WeChat’s embedded ‘mini-app’ programs to facilitate transactions and engage consumers in China, officials said.

The order will not bar transactions with WeChat-owner Tencent Holdings’ other businesses, including its online gaming operations, and will not prohibit Apple, Google or others from offering TikTok or WeChat apps anywhere outside the United States.
The bans are in response to a pair of executive orders issued by Trump on Aug. 6 that gave the Commerce Department 45 days to determine what transactions to block from the apps he deemed pose a national security threat. That deadline expires on Sunday.

Commerce Department officials said they were taking the extraordinary step because of the risks the apps’ data collection poses. China and the companies have denied U.S. user data is collected for spying.

Ross said in a written statement “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.”

Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Does this mean I can download Tiktok on a phone and sell it to some teenager for 4000 dollars like what happened with Flappy Bird?
 
That's kinda lame.

I mean preventing it from growing is all fine and good, but the fact that peeps are still gonna be using it. Zoinks.
 
kcbbq said:
How the fuck can TikTok be the only way you can speak to your family? "The only way I can talk to my family is to log on to TikTok on my device made for communication with other people in a nearly infinite number of ways and use this one app. It's the only method of communication available on my telephone."
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WeChat != TikTok. And I believe this is in reference to people whose families are in China. I know a guy who was worried about a potential WeChat ban for this reason.
 
kcbbq said:
How the fuck can TikTok be the only way you can speak to your family? "The only way I can talk to my family is to log on to TikTok on my device made for communication with other people in a nearly infinite number of ways and use this one app. It's the only method of communication available on my telephone."
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I said wechat not tiktok quit misrepresenting my argument
 
From what I read, WeChat isn't completely banned. It's still able to be used as a messaging app, but you can't use it for any other transaction. Literally makes it worse than Facebook messenger, but if you ABSOLUTELY have to use it to talk to your relatives in China, you could.
 
Wife and I use WeChat to talk to her parents back in China. It sucks that we're going to have to find an alternative, but this isn't America's fault. The CCP is a piece of shit.

I'd love to tell my father-in-law that without having to worry about going to a black prison to never be seen again. Fuck China.
 
TikTok users start making fun of the Holocaust, and a week or two later it gets banned. Hmmmmmm
 
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UncleMoeLester said:
the glow niggers almost definitely monitor the conversation here so should trump ban kiwifarms? i'd fucking hope not
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If you don't understand the difference between a public message board and private communications you are also part of the problem.

Free Tibet! <-- tell me when this is cleansed away by the US government.
 
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