TikTok and WeChat blocked in American AppStores beginning Sunday

4years ago

US news.

Popular video app TikTok and messaging app WeChat will be removed from the American AppStores over the next weekend according to a US Department of Commerce statement released Friday.

Officials said that the step comes in an attempt to “safeguard the national security of the country.”

The executive orders of the ban were issued last month with President Trump threatening to shut down the platforms by Sept. 20 if not owned by US buyers.

The Trump administration alleged that the data collected through TikTok and WeChat is used by the Chinese Communist Party to “threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the US.”

TikTok has between 60 and 80 million users in America while WeChat, more popular among Chinese Americans, has around 19 million users.

“In our proposal to the US Administration, we’ve already committed to unprecedented levels of additional transparency and accountability well beyond what other apps are willing to do,” a TikTok spokesperson said.

“Further, an American technology provider would be responsible for maintaining and operating the TikTok network in the US, which would include all services and data serving US consumers.”