Americas

Home page

Americas

Trump imposes U.S. ban on WeChat, TikTok in 45 days

07 August 2020 07:38 (UTC +04:00)

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday sweeping bans on U.S. transactions with China’s ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and Tencent, operator of the WeChat app, starting in 45 days, in a major escalation of tensions with Beijing, APA reports quoting Reuters.

The executive orders come as the Trump administration said this week it was stepping up efforts to purge “untrusted” Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks and called the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok and messenger app WeChat “significant threats.”

Tiktok, the hugely popular video-sharing app, has come under fire from U.S. lawmakers and the administration over national security concerning data collection, amid intensified tension between Washington and Beijing.