President Donald Trump’s TikTok ban will reportedly be coming into effect within the next 72 hours.
From Sunday onwards, social media users in the US will no longer be permitted to download TikTok or WeChat, according to a statement from the US Department of Commerce.
Government officials in the US have recently claimed the two apps pose a threat to national security, with Donald Trump having threatened to ban TikTok altogether unless a US company took control over domestic operations.
According to a press release from the US Department of Commerce, it’s believed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has shown ‘the means and motives’ to use TikTok in a way which could threaten US national security, foreign policy, and the economy.
US Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said:
Today’s actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party.
At the President’s direction, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws and regulations.
This ban is reportedly being implemented to protect US social media users by removing access to the sites, and by reducing functionality.
From September 20 onwards, any ‘provision of service to distribute or maintain the WeChat or TikTok mobile applications, constituent code, or application updates through an online mobile application store in the US’ will be prohibited.
Furthermore, ‘any provision of services through the WeChat mobile application for the purpose of transferring funds or processing payments within the US’ will also no longer be allowed.
These actions follow an executive order made by President Trump on August 6, in which he claimed that TikTok and WeChat collect information from US-based users that could then be accessed by the Chinese intelligence services.
Those who have already installed TikTok will still be able to use it as usual after September 20, however they will no longer be allowed to download any new updates.
This could very quickly affect the app’s functionality, as developers will not be able to fix bugs.
From this Sunday, users will be stopped from downloading either TikTok or WeChat, and if a deal is not made by November 12, there will be a total ban in place, with using or downloading the app becoming illegal.
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Source link : https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/trumps-us-tiktok-ban-to-start-within-72-hours
