It has been described as an "app for everything" in China and has more than one billion monthly users. It is a multi-purpose app allowing users to send messages, make mobile payments and use local services. It is thought to have more than 800 million members around the world. In September the company said it had more than 100 million users. But much of this data collection is similar to other social networks like Facebook. It collects a huge amount of user data - including what videos people watch and comment on, location data, phone model and even how people type. Users can post up to a minute of video and have access to a vast database of songs and filters. India has already banned TikTok and WeChat, while the UK Information Commissioner's Office, a privacy watchdog, is currently investigating TikTok. While TikTok has millions of users in the US, it is not clear how many of WeChat's billion users are based outside China, although it is likely to be a significant number.īut the US is not the only country concerned about the companies. Tencent, which owns WeChat, has said that messages on its app are private.
The Trump administration has repeatedly said the apps are a threat because of their collection of data.įriday's statement from the commerce department said the governing Chinese Communist Party "has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the US."īyteDance has denied that it holds any user data in China, saying it is stored in the US and in Singapore. Photo: AFP Why does the US want the apps banned? The Trump administration has repeatedly said the apps are a threat because of their collection of data. will be shut down in the US, but only in the US, as of midnight Monday". After this point, some technical transactions will be banned on the app and functionality will be affected.Īsked about the order on Fox Business Network, Mr Ross said that "the basic TikTok will stay intact until November 12", but added that WeChat "for all practical purposes. "The President has provided until November 12 for the national security concerns posed by TikTok to be resolved," the commerce department said.
Wechat banned in us download#
The order means that from Sunday, people will not be able to use WeChat to transfer funds or process payments to or from people in the US.īut TikTok users will still be able to use their app virtually as normal, although they will not be able to download new updates. The department acknowledged that the threats posed by WeChat and TikTok were not identical but said that each collected "vast swathes of data from users, including network activity, location data, and browsing and search histories". "At the president's direction, we have taken significant action to combat China's malicious collection of American citizens' personal data," the US Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement. If a planned partnership between US tech firm Oracle and TikTok owner ByteDance is agreed and approved by President Trump, the app will not be banned. It gave US businesses 45 days to stop working with either Chinese company. The ban order from the Department of Commerce follows President Trump's executive orders signed in August. Tencent - the owner of WeChat - said the announced restrictions were "unfortunate", but said they would continue talks with the US government "to achieve a long-term solution". "We will continue to challenge the unjust executive order, which was enacted without due process and threatens to deprive the American people and small businesses across the US of a significant platform for both a voice and livelihoods." TikTok said it was "disappointed" in the order and disagreed with the commerce department, saying it had already committed to "unprecedented levels of additional transparency" in light of the Trump administration's concerns. WeChat will effectively shut down in the US on Sunday, but people will still be able to use TikTok until 12 November, when it could also be fully banned. The Trump administration says the companies threaten national security and could pass user data to China.
The Department of Commerce said it would bar people in the US from downloading the messaging and video-sharing apps through any app store on any platform.
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