US prohibits dealings with Chinese apps WeChat and TikTok
19 Sep 2020
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The United States today announced a prohibition on al dealings with Chinese mobile applications WeChat and TikTok by US citizens and entities, in what the government said, in the interest of protecting national security.
US Department of Commerce announced prohibitions on transactions relating to mobile applications (apps) WeChat and TikTok in response to President Trump’s Executive Orders signed on 6 August.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the US. Today’s announced prohibitions, when combined, protect users in the US by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality, the Commerce Department stated.
“Today’s actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party,” said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “At the President’s direction, 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.”
While the threats posed by WeChat and TikTok are not identical, they are similar. Each collects vast swaths of data from users, including network activity, location data, and browsing and search histories. Each is an active participant in China’s civil-military fusion and is subject to mandatory cooperation with the intelligence services of the CCP. This combination results in the use of WeChat and TikTok creating unacceptable risks to our national security, it pointed out.
As of 20 September 2020, the following transactions are prohibited:
- Any provision of service to distribute or maintain the WeChat or TikTok mobile applications, constituent code, or application updates through an online mobile application store in the US;
- Any provision of services through the WeChat mobile application for the purpose of transferring funds or processing payments within the US.
- As of 20 September 2020, for WeChat and as of 12 November 2020, for TikTok, the following transactions are prohibited:
- Any provision of internet hosting services enabling the functioning or optimization of the mobile application in the US;
- Any provision of content delivery network services enabling the functioning or optimization of the mobile application in the US;
- Any provision directly contracted or arranged internet transit or peering services enabling the function or optimisation of the mobile application within the US;
- Any utilisation of the mobile application’s constituent code, functions, or services in the functioning of software or services developed and/or accessible within the US;
Any other prohibitive transaction relating to WeChat or TikTok may be identified at a future date. Should the US government determine that WeChat’s or TikTok’s illicit behavior is being replicated by another app somehow outside the scope of these executive orders, the President has the authority to consider whether additional orders may be appropriate to address such activities. The President has provided until 12 November for the national security concerns posed by TikTok to be resolved. If they are, the prohibitions in this order may be lifted.
Commerce Department said it would post notices for these actions on the Federal Register at approximately 8:45 AM EDT on Friday.
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