Jennifer L. Henn  |  September 18, 2020

Category: Legal News

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A person holds up a smartphone with TikTok on the screen - tiktok ban

The Commerce Department said it will begin enforcing President Donald Trump’s TikTok ban on Sunday, preventing the app from doing business in the U.S.

In orders issued Friday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the department will prohibit app stores, including those operated by Apple and Google, from distributing TikTok and WeChat as of Sept. 20, according to an Associated Press report.

Existing Tiktok and WeChat users will blocked from updating or upgrading their apps, under the department’s orders, and WeChat will be forbidden from conducting any transactions with users in the U.S.

It will also be illegal to host or transfer internet traffic through WeChat, the Commerce Department said. That same restriction will be placed on TikTok starting Nov. 12.

The clampdown follows executive orders issued by Trump on Aug. 6 to ban TikTok, a wildly popular short-form video sharing app, and halt all transactions with ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, in the U.S.

Trump issued identical orders banning the messaging app WeChat.

The president said he was acting to neutralize a threat posed by the Chinese companies, which harvest user data through the apps — data, the president said, that the Chinese government has access to.

The WeChat app is shown among other apps on a smartphone screen - tiktok ban

“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 U.S.,” Ross said in his announcement Friday. “Today’s announced prohibitions, when combined, protect users in the U.S. by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality.”

Trump has been pressuring ByteDance to sell its TikTok operations in America to a U.S. company, something the company has reportedly been exploring with Oracle.

Four days before the Commerce Department announced its intention to restrain TikTok’s functionality in the U.S., it was reported the company was in the late stages of partnering with the California tech powerhouse.

In response to Trump’s moves against TikTok, the company filed a lawsuit accusing his administration of playing politics and violating due process.

“The executive order is not rooted in bona fide national security concerns,” the lawsuit says of the TikTok ban. “Independent national security and information security experts have criticized the political nature of this executive order, and expressed doubt as to whether its stated national security objective is genuine.”

WeChat users in the U.S. have also filed a legal challenge to Trump’s executive orders.

During a hearing in U.S. District Court in California on Thursday, the judge assigned to the case “appeared sympathetic to WeChat users,” but did not immediately grant them the injunction they were asking for, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, lawyers defending the government in the WeChat case said in a filing earlier this week that “use of the app … could be directly or indirectly impaired through measures targeted at other transactions … users will not be targeted or subject to penalties,” according to c|net.

TikTok executives reacted to the news Friday, issuing a statement that criticized the move.

“Our community of 100 million U.S. users love TikTok because it’s a home for entertainment, self-expression, and connection 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,” CNN reported the company said.

Are you a TikTok or WeChat user? Do you think the U.S. government should ban the apps over concerns about the security of their user data? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

The plaintiffs are represented by Beth S. Brinkmann, Alexander A. Berengaut, Megan C. Keenan, John E. Hall, Anders Linderot, Mitchell A. Kamin and Benjamin G. Cain of Covington & Burling LLP.

The TikTok Ban Action Lawsuit is TikTok Inc., et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-7672, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division.

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8 thoughts onCommerce Department Will Enforce Trump’s TikTok Ban In the U.S.

  1. Stephanie Bell says:

    Add me. My kids and grandkids and my daughter use this all day.

  2. Ana Lopez says:

    Add me I use this .

  3. Rebecca L Tripp says:

    I use the app all the Tom’s and so does m thg son. Please add me.

  4. Michelle L Kitts says:

    Please add me

  5. Kristen Dissinger says:

    Add me my daughter uses this awful app all day every day

  6. Razelle cunanan says:

    Add me please…. my daughter use it everyday

  7. Monica says:

    I and my family use the application…add me

  8. Yvette Dhuperoyrs says:

    I use the app. Add me

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