On Friday morning, the Department of Commerce announced new prohibitions on U.S. transactions relating to the Chinese-controlled social media apps TikTok and WeChat.
The actions will shut down the apps in the United States unless significant national security concerns are addressed and the companies can guarantee the safety of U.S. user data from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interference.
The actions follow an August 6, 2020, executive order from President Donald Trump that determined the apps capture vast swaths of information from U.S. users, leaving the data vulnerable to CCP access for nefarious purposes.
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., sent the President a letter earlier this week outlining significant concerns regarding reports that the U.S.-based technology company Oracle Corp. had confirmed a deal with the China-based ByteDance to become a “trusted technology provider” for the wildly popular social media app TikTok.
Senator Wicker supported the new prohibitions from the Commerce Department saying on Twitter, “President Trump is making good on his promise to ban Chinese-controlled apps TikTok and WeChat from the U.S. unless significant national security concerns could be addressed. This is a bold move to protect the American consumer.”
President @realDonaldTrump is making good on his promise to ban Chinese-controlled apps #TikTok and #WeChat from the U.S. unless significant national security concerns could be addressed. This is a bold move to protect the American consumer.https://t.co/vnzDC8yLRy
— Senator Roger Wicker (@SenatorWicker) September 18, 2020
In August, Wicker lent his support to the divestment of TikTok’s U.S. operations and a purchase by a U.S. company, saying it “would be a win for U.S. consumers.”
Wicker is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which has jurisdiction over the internet and consumer data protection policies in the United States.
Read the full announcement from the U.S. Department of Commerce here.
