US lifts presidential ban on TikTok and WeChat downloads

U.S. President Biden lifted a presidential decree issued by former President Donald Trump banning TikTok and WeChat downloads. Since the order was prohibited by a court ruling, practically nothing changed, but President Biden lifted the presidential decree issued by Trump itself.

But on the other hand, President Biden has directed the Commerce Secretary to conduct a broad investigation of these applications, as well as those that have relations with hostile countries, such as China, that could pose a risk. It is to assess whether adversaries can provide access to user information, gather evidence, and pose significant risks to US security infrastructure and the digital economy.

The White House says certain countries, including China, pose a risk to national security to an unacceptable extent with digital technology, or seek to retrieve and use American data, while at the same time promoting authoritarian domination and interests.

Meanwhile, TikTok and WeChat did not comment on the Biden regime’s new decision. In fact, no conclusive evidence has been found that such an app actually transmits data from Chinese user terminals. Citizen Lab, an Internet monitoring group, said in a report that there was no evidence that TikTok was doing anything malicious, and that the amount of data collected from the app was smaller than that of Facebook. Citizen Lab also added that the operation of what data the TikTok app directly sends to a server in China has not been confirmed. However, the possibility of sending it to China through other countries is undeniable, so it is necessary to continue to be vigilant. Related information can be found here.