President Trump made good on his threat to ban video-sharing app TikTok and doubled down by taking out the messaging platform, WeChat, in two separate executive orders on Thursday.
The orders will disallow transactions with both apps by any person or property that is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and will take effect in 45 days.
National security concerns were cited as the driving force behind the bans, as both social media platforms are owned by Chinese companies and are required to share their data with Beijing.
The WeChat order read: “Like TikTok, WeChat automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary data.“
The President had already announced his plans to stop TikTok from operating on American soil last week, giving parent company ByteDance a September 15 deadline to sell to an American company.
Tech giant Microsoft Corp is currently in negotiations to buy the app, but the Trump administration rejected an initial proposal that allowed ByteDance to remain a minority shareholder.
Thursdays orders come on the heels of increased tensions between the U.S. and China over matters spanning Hong Kong’s autonomy, state sponsored human rights violations, theft of American intellectual property, and diplomatic embassy closures.
WeChat has 1.2 billion active monthly users worldwide and has developed far beyond a messaging service. The “super app” offers payment service and supports a platform of third-party developed video, games, and music programs. Parent company Tencent recently admitted that the app monitors user activity.
TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms in the world and is estimated to have 80 million American users a month. The company’s stateside headquarters claims to store all American data on U.S. soil.
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Twitter users are already melting down over the ban, and conservatives have had some savvy responses.
CLICK NEXT PAGE to see the amazing meltdowns and responses!
Great move Mr. President. We still have a few patriots, or many I hope. The Lib,Marxist, Fascist, Socialist power brokers will always be there, but hopefully good Americans that believe in the Constitution will outnumber them. If not, we are done as nation of freedom.
Thank you President Trump. You have a tough job trying to protect the country with so many people who are ignorant of the things the Chinese Communist Party is doing.
And with so many enemies in his America and other countries! Loony Left-wing liberals, idiotic MSM, (S)BLM, Antifa, destructive House of Congress, criminal Dims in the Senate, China, Iran, Russia, NK, Rinos, and Satan. It’s only by Holy Spirit power that he continues to fight them all day after day after day.
BRAVO!!!!
Great! Now, WHAT is being done about TAX-PAYER-OWNED (bought & paid for with OUR Tax $$$$) twitter, wastebook, youtube, google (operated by the CIA), ect????????????
Thank you Mr. President. Your battles are many but you try your best to protect this country. Know this, while you do not always get the support you deserve from the same internal enemies we know, the majority support you supporting us.
Good going – We are starting to see the light here like European countries did years ago by blocking exactly this kind of data mining and other.
Great call Mr. President!
Let’s see, their cronies at Facebook, Twitter, etc. routinely censor and ban conservatives and yet the left has the nerve to get upset about these moves?
Once again our president has done the right thing.