Department of Commerce challenges judge's order that blocked its attempt to ban the Chinese messaging and payments app WeChat
The US Commerce Department said it will challenge an order issued by a judge that blocks the Trump administration from requiring Apple and Google to remove WeChat from their U.S. app stores.
In a ruling dated Saturday, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in California said the government's actions would affect users' First Amendment rights as an effective ban on the app removes their platform for communication.
The Justice Department had urged Beeler not to block the action, saying it would 'frustrate and displace the president's determination of how best to address threats to national security.'
'Prohibiting the identified transactions is necessary to protect the national security of the United States, and the department expects to soon seek relief from this order,' the Commerce Department said.
A group of WeChat users had made the injunction request after the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it would bar WeChat from U.S. app stores and keep it from accessing essential internet services in the country, beginning Sunday night at 11:59 p.m.
WeChat is a messaging-focused app popular with many Chinese-speaking Americans that serves as a lifeline to friends, family, customers and business contacts in China. It's owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent and has an average of 19 million daily active users in the US, analytics firms Apptopia said in August.
The US Commerce Department said it will challenge an order issued Sunday by a judge that blocks the Trump administration from requiring Apple and Google remove WeChat from their U.S. app stores
The government cited national security and data-privacy concerns in taking action against WeChat and imposing similar restrictions on TikTok, another popular Chinese-owned app.
Restrictions on TikTok were pushed back by a week Saturday after President Donald Trump said he supported a proposed deal that would make TikTok a U.S. company.
WeChat users had argued the moves targeting the all-in-one app with instant-messaging, social media and other communication tools would restrict free speech.
In the ruling, the court said that a WeChat ban 'eliminates all meaningful access to communication in the plaintiffs' community,' and that an injunction would be in the public interest.
The government cited national security and data-privacy concerns in taking action against WeChat. Trump is pictured Saturday
In a ruling dated Saturday, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in California said the government's actions would affect users' First Amendment rights as an effective ban on the app removes their platform for communication
The US government had earlier argued that it is not restricting free speech because WeChat users still 'are free to speak on alternative platforms that do not pose a national security threat.'
Specific evidence about WeChat posing a national security threat was also 'modest,' according to Judge Beeler.
The dispute over the two apps is the latest flashpoint in the rising tensions between the world´s two largest economies, as the Trump administration attempts to counter the influence of China.
The one-week delay came after Trump on Saturday blessed a deal with TikTok owner ByteDance and U.S. companies Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc to create a new company to handle TikTok's U.S. operations
The dispute over the two apps is the latest flashpoint in the rising tensions between the world´s two largest economies, as the Trump administration attempts to counter the influence of China.
Since taking office in 2017, Trump has waged a trade war with China, blocked mergers involving Chinese companies and stifled the business of Chinese firms like Huawei, a maker of phones and telecom equipment.
No comments