This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Wednesday morning President Biden officially revoked former President Trump’s executive orders seeking to ban Chinese-owned social media apps TikTok and WeChat from being downloaded in the United States. Trump’s orders never took effect before leaving office after courts blocked them.
According to a fact sheet provided by the White House:
Today, President Biden signed an Executive Order (E.O.) to further address the ongoing national emergency declared in E.O. 13873 of May 15, 2019 with respect to the threat posed to the United States’ information and communications technology and services (ICTS) supply chain. President Biden revoked and replaced three E.O.s that aimed to prohibit transactions with TikTok, WeChat, and eight other communications and financial technology software applications; two of these E.O.s are subject to litigation. In their place, this E.O. directs the use of a criteria-based decision framework and rigorous, evidence-based analysis to address the risks posed by ICTS transactions involving software applications that are designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons that are owned or controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction of a foreign adversary, including the People’s Republic of China, that may present an undue or unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States and the American people.