Trump issues executive orders targeting TikTok, WeChat
On Thursday night, President Trump issued executive orders banning American people and companies from doing business with the Chinese parent companies of TikTok, a video-sharing app, and WeChat, a messaging app.
The executive orders did not explicitly say what business transactions will be prohibited; the bans go into effect in 45 days, and by that time, the Commerce Secretary must define what exactly is banned, The Associated Press reports.
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, while WeChat is owned by Tencent; neither responded to AP's requests for comment. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called TikTok and WeChat security threats, and earlier Thursday, the Senate voted unanimously in support of a bill banning federal employees from installing TikTok on government-issued devices.
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TikTok has a separate U.S. enterprise, and has said it does not store American user data in China. WeChat has also denied sharing data with the Chinese government, saying it stores U.S. user data in Canada. Microsoft is now in talks with ByteDance to purchase TikTok's U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand entities.
