• Home
  • Apps
  • Apps News
  • TikTok, WeChat Rescinded From Prohibited Transactions List by US Commerce Department

TikTok, WeChat Rescinded From Prohibited Transactions List by US Commerce Department

The US Commerce Department under Trump had sought to ban transactions that would have effectively banned TikTok and WeChat.

TikTok, WeChat Rescinded From Prohibited Transactions List by US Commerce Department

Photo Credit: Reuters

Biden order directed the Commerce Department to monitor software that could affect US national security

Highlights
  • TikTok, WeChat first faced ban from the US in August 2020
  • Trump banned 8 more apps in January 2021
  • Biden’s order revokes the bans imposed by Trump administration
Advertisement

The US Commerce Department said Monday it was rescinding a list of prohibited transactions with TikTok and WeChat that were issued in September as the Trump administration sought to block new US downloads of both Chinese-owned apps.

The withdrawals came after President Joe Biden earlier this month withdrew a series of Trump-era executive orders that sought to ban new downloads of Tencent-owned WeChat and TikTok, and ordered a Commerce Department review of security concerns posed by those apps and others.

The Commerce Department under Trump also had sought to ban other transactions that would have effectively banned WeChat's use in the United States and later sought similar restrictions that would have barred TikTok's use.

The department did not immediately comment.

The Biden order directed the Commerce Department to monitor software applications like TikTok that could affect US national security, as well as to make recommendations within 120 days to protect US data acquired or accessible by companies controlled by foreign adversaries.

WeChat, which has been downloaded at least 19 million times by US users, is widely used as a medium for services, games and payments.

Biden's executive order revokes the WeChat and TikTok orders Trump issued in August, along with another in January that targeted eight other communications and financial technology software applications.

The January Trump order directed officials to ban transactions with eight Chinese apps, including Ant Group's Alipay and Tencent's QQ Wallet and WeChat pay. No bans have been issued to date.

The Trump administration had appealed judicial orders blocking the bans on TikTok and WeChat, but after Biden took office in January, the US Justice Department asked to pause the appeals.

A separate US national security review of TikTok, launched in late 2019, remains active.

© Thomson Reuters 2021


What were the best games at E3 2021? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Stranger Things Season 4 to Set Up ‘Definite’ Ending, David Harbour Says
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Go With 14-Inch Display, Intel Jasper Lake Processor Launched
Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat LinkedIn Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News

Advertisement

Follow Us
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »