The United States is taking the first steps against the Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat, which they say share user data with the Chinese government. Both apps will be banned from app stores from Sunday, the US Department of Commerce announced on Friday.
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Specifically, it will be prohibited to distribute the TikTok video app and WeChat chat app via app stores in the United States. This also applies to updates of the apps. WeChat is also no longer allowed to process payments in the US. According to the US government, the apps collect too much data about users they share with the Chinese government. As a result, they pose a threat to US national security.
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“On the appointment of President Donald Trump, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of personal information from US citizens,” Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a press release. That, he says, proves once again “that the president will do everything he can to ensure national security and protect Americans from the threats from the Chinese Communist Party”.
Trump has long threatened to ban the apps in the US unless they sell their US division. TikTok’s parent company ByteDance made agreements about this with the American software company Oracle, but that deal – which would not be a complete sale – would not be enough for the US government. TikTok now has until November 12 to find a solution.
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