By Kaya Yurieff, CNN Business
New York (CNN Business) – People in the United States rushed to download TikTok and WeChat after the Commerce Department announced plans to restrict access to both apps starting Sunday.
The Trump administration’s executive orders against the two Chinese-owned apps were set to take effect Sunday but restrictions impacting TikTok have been delayed at least one week.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump said he approved a deal between TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and Oracle.
TikTok downloads rose 12% to 247,000 in the US on Friday, compared to Thursday, according to preliminary estimates from Sensor Tower, which tracks mobile apps.
WeChat reached 10,000 installs on Friday, up 150% from the previous day. That’s the most downloads the app has seen in a day since October 2019, according to Sensor Tower.
WeChat’s rank among all free iPhone apps in the US climbed to number 100 as of noon on Friday, up from number 1,385 in the early morning, Sensor Tower data showed. The firm said this is the first time WeChat has ranked in the top 500 so far this year. Many people rely on WeChat as the main way of keeping in touch with family and friends in China.
Anyone who has already downloaded TikTok or WeChat will still be able to use the apps — if they’re already on their phone despite the restrictions. But at midnight between Sunday and Monday, WeChat is likely to vanish from US app stores, including those operated by Apple and Google.
However, even if you downloaded the app on your phone prior to the deadline, you won’t be able to receive security patches or other updates, which could cause outages or glitches within the app in the future.
For months, the Trump administration has claimed that TikTok is a risk to national security because of its Chinese ownership. The administration has alleged its parent company ByteDance could be required to hand over TikTok’s user data to the Chinese government, compromising the safety and privacy of US users. TikTok has repeatedly said that it stores data outside of China and that it would refuse any request by Beijing for data about US users.
In a statement Friday, TikTok said that it disagreed with and was disappointed by the Trump administration’s announcement. “Our community of 100 million US users love TikTok because it’s a home for entertainment, self-expression, and connection,” the company said, “and we’re committed to protecting their privacy and safety as we continue working to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform.”
Tencent, which owns WeChat, called the restrictions outlined by the Commerce Department “unfortunate.”
“Following the initial executive order on August 6 we have engaged in extensive discussions with the US government, and have put forward a comprehensive proposal to address its concerns,” Tencent said in a statement Friday. “…(G)iven our desire to provide ongoing services to our users in the US — for whom WeChat is an important communication tool — we will continue to discuss with the government and other stakeholders in the US ways to achieve a long-term solution.”
CNN Business’ Brian Fung contributed reporting
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/19/tech/tiktok-wechat-downloads/index.html
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9/16/2020
U.S. government says upcoming WeChat ban won’t target users
KEY POINTS
- A looming U.S. ban on the Chinese app WeChat won’t target people who use the app to communicate, according to a government court filing Wednesday.
- President Donald Trump issued orders on August 6 that targeted WeChat and TikTok as purported national-security threats and imposed a September 20 deadline for the Commerce Department to draft specific measures for blocking “transactions” with the Chinese owners of the apps.
- The nonprofit U.S. WeChat Users Alliance and several people who say they rely on the app for work, worship and staying in touch with relatives in China sued to stop the ban in federal court in California. The suit says the ban violates its U.S. users’ freedom of speech, free exercise of religion and other constitutional rights.
A looming U.S. ban on the Chinese app WeChat won’t target people who use the app to communicate, according to a government court filing Wednesday.
President Donald Trump issued orders on August 6 that targeted WeChat and TikTok as purported national-security threats and imposed a September 20 deadline for the Commerce Department to draft specific measures for blocking “transactions” with the Chinese owners of the apps.
The nonprofit U.S. WeChat Users Alliance and several people who say they rely on the app for work, worship and staying in touch with relatives in China sued to stop the ban in federal court in California. The suit says the ban violates its U.S. users’ freedom of speech, free exercise of religion and other constitutional rights.
The WeChat users, who say they are not affiliated with WeChat or its parent company, Tencent, are seeking an injunction against the order, and a hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
WeChat users in the U.S. depend on the app to talk to friends, family and colleagues in China, where the messaging, payments and social media app is widely used. It has several million users in the U.S.
The Justice Department said in the Wednesday filing that the Commerce Department “does not intend to take actions that would target persons or groups whose only connection with WeChat is their use or downloading of the app to convey personal or business information between users.” It added that such users would not be exposed to “criminal or civil liability.”
The government filing said that using and downloading the app to communicate won’t be a banned transaction, although messaging on the app could be “directly or indirectly impaired” by the ban.
The Justice Department’s filing said that these “assurances largely address” concerns raised by the plaintiffs who called for an injunction.
The lead lawyer for the WeChat users, Michael Bien, said in an interview that the plaintiffs will be filing a response later Wednesday.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/17/us-government-says-upcoming-wechat-ban-wont-target-users.html
