US Judge Halted Trump’s Ban On WeChat

US Judge Halted
Trump’s Ban On WeChat

US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler, put an
unexpected halt on The Trump administration’s ban on downloads of the
Chinese-owned app Wechat on early Sunday. Beeler’s order comes just moments
before the ban, which the US Commerce Department announced on Friday, takes
into effect.

The halt order prohibits the Commerce Department
from forcing Apple and Alphabet’s Google to remove Tencent Holding’s WeChat for
downloads by Sunday evening. Beeler’s commented that WeChat users who filed a
lawsuit against the ban showed serious questions towards the US First Amendment
claim, where the plaintiffs are in favor. The order also prevented the ban that
would bar other transactions with WeChat in the US, potentially degrading the apps’
usability for its existing users in the country.

On Friday morning, The Commerce Department, under
the directive of US President Donald Trump, announced a ban on US business
transactions with Chinese-owned social apps WeChat and Tiktok that takes into
effect on Sunday. According to officials, the Commerce had laid out the next
steps for WeChat users in the US as the ban would cause large dysfunctional for
existing users. Officials also said that they are anticipating legal battle
following the ban.

On Saturday, President Trump approved a deal that
allows the TikTok application to continue its operations after Oracle and
Walmart agreed to partner with TikTok. Since July, the Trump administration had
said that they would be looking to ban TikTok along with other Chinese social
media apps amid national security concerns. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also
said in August that the administration would monitor TikTok closely as it shows
similar security threat as to Chinese tech giants, Huawei and ZTE.

US officials had been accusing China of
intellectual property theft, which is also a current deadlock for the US-China
trade deal. The accusation included costing the US economy billions of dollars
in revenue, thousands of jobs, and threatening national security, all of which
China continues to deny. US top diplomat said that the State Department would
continue working with the Commerce Department and Defense Department in
limiting Chinese cloud service providers’ ability to collect, store, and
process data in the US.

Following Beeler’s order in halting the banning of
WeChat on Sunday, both the US Commerce Department and the Trump administration
had yet to provide any comments. Further pursuing of the ban could potentially
jeopardize already worsening relations between the two economic powerhouses.

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