According to media reports such as Observer.com and Global Times, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued an announcement on the18th local time stating that from September 20, U.S. companies will be prohibited from conducting business transactions with WeChat and TikTok. The statement also prohibits US companies from providing services through WeChat “for the purpose of transferring funds or processing payments within the United States.”
The statement stated that the move was made by the US Department of Commerce in response to the executive order signed by US President Trump on August 6 and to “maintain US national security.”
Previously, US President Trump issued an executive order on August 6, requiring Bytedance to sell TikTok’s US business to a US company within 45 days, otherwise it would face a US ban.
Earlier today, Reuters quoted three officials as saying that the U.S. Department of Commerce plans to issue an order on the same day: Starting September 20, downloading Chinese application software TikTok and WeChat in the United States will be prohibited.
Later, the “Financial Times” reported that US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross (Wilbur Ross) stated: “We have taken major actions to combat China’s malicious collection of personal data from US citizens and will actively safeguard US laws and regulations.”
Naijatechnews once reported that last Sunday, Microsoft said that Tiktok had rejected its acquisition offer, while Oracle said it had reached an agreement with ByteDance to become a trusted technology provider for TikTok.
People familiar with the matter said that Bytedance may still be the controlling shareholder of TikTok, and Oracle only holds a small stake. In response, Trump stated that he was “unhappy.”
In addition, the US Department of Commerce stated in a statement that although the “threats” posed by TikTok and WeChat are different, they are very similar. These applications collect a large amount of data and information, including network activity, location data, browsing data, and search history, which poses an “unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States.”
- Therefore, the US Department of Commerce has decided to prohibit the following activities from September 20, 2020:
- Any service that distributes or maintains WeChat or TikTok apps, component codes, or app updates through online App stores in the United States;
- Any service provided through WeChat for transferring funds or processing payments within the United States.
- From September 20, 2020 (WeChat) and November 12, 2020 (TikTok), the following behaviors are prohibited:
- Any Internet hosting services provided in the United States for the purpose of supporting App functions or optimization;
- Any content distribution (CDN) network service provided in the United States for the purpose of supporting App functions or optimization;
- Internet traffic transmission or peer-to-peer services directly contracted or subcontracted in the United States for the purpose of realizing App functions or optimization;
- Use the code, functions or services (API, SDK, etc.) of the above mobile applications in software or services developed and/or supported for access (use) in the United States.
It is worth mentioning that the US Department of Commerce also stated that if the US government determines that the App has been copied in some form to evade the prohibition , the president has the right to consider whether additional orders are needed to resolve this behavior.
In August of this year, US President Trump signed the “Executive Order No. 13942” and “Executive Order No. 13943” to restrict TikTok and WeChat mobile applications in the United States.
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