Trump orders WeChat and TikTok banned in the US

[wormgob]

Trump orders WeChat and TikTok banned in the US in 45 days (September 20)

Trump’s Executive Order reads in part:

Further action is needed to address a similar threat posed by another mobile application, WeChat.

WeChat, a messaging, social media, and electronic payment application owned by the Chinese company Tencent Holdings Ltd., reportedly has over one billion users worldwide, including users in the United States. Like TikTok, WeChat automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information. In addition, the application captures the personal and proprietary information of Chinese nationals visiting the United States, thereby allowing the Chinese Communist Party a mechanism for keeping tabs on Chinese citizens who may be enjoying the benefits of a free society for the first time in their lives.


https://www.whitehouse.gov/president...-posed-wechat/

[RoyalCrown]

He's pissed due to the little prank they pulled on his Tulsa rally. Donald doesn't like looking stupid.

[deezguy]

This executive order is vaguely worded. What are transactions? WeChat is used to transfer money, by many providers to family in China. That is a monetary transaction. It is widely used by Asians to communicate in this country and to persons in China and other Asian countries. Communication is a “transaction” of data. Tencent also sends updates to Windows, the App Store and Google Play. Will these update transactions also stop?
The executive order discusses Tencent’s WeChat application. If it is to block the use of WeChat, it says nothing about Tencent’s other communication app, QQ. QQ is an older, less sophisticated app but it still can be used for communication.
This action with cripple the way Chinese provider’s lives in this country. If they can’t send money home and if they cannot communicate with loved ones, there will be less dire to stay in this country. That means less of a selection for mongers and probably higher prices.
Some mongers (including this one) use WeChat as the backbone of communications with providers, civilians And other mongers. Without WeChat, many AAMPS Would go out of biz, providers and customers would lose complete contact and there would be a huge downturn in business and service.
It’s true that WeChat communications goes through and is stored on Tencent servers in China. Tencent also monitors communications so they know what we write and say.Tencent also has a working relationship with the Chinese government but mongers don’t care. We just talk about poontang not military secrets.

[Bang Qiu]

Exactly, Deez. Trump is just trying to piss off China. Executive Orders mean nothing. I don’t think we have too much to worry about, it would be near impossible to shut down We Chat. If somehow he does, Asian Americans will just use another app such as What’s App. People are ingenious where money and communications and their livelihood are concerned.

[wormgob]

No señor, WhatsApp is blocked in China and has been censored there since 2017

Unless you are using a Virtual Private Network to access it in China,
no tienes suerte (you are out of luck)

How many Grandmothers in China are going to set up a VPN connection first so she can talk to and send voice or typed messages with her family living in the U.S.


Messaging Apps blocked in China

WhatsApp
Facebook Messenger
Telegram
Line
Signal
KaKao Talk (Korean)

Originally Posted by Deezguy

WeChat is used to transfer money, by many providers to family in China. That is a monetary transaction. It is widely used by Asians to communicate in this country and to persons in China and other Asian countries. Communication is a “transaction” of data. This action will cripple the way Chinese providers live in this country. If they can’t send money home and if they cannot communicate with loved ones, there will be less desire to stay in this country.

[deezguy]

This action takes place in 44 days by today’s date. If a ban on transactions doesn’t include communications but does affect the ability to get app updates, depending on election results, today’s version of WeChat may still operate with any OS updates on your device until the order is rescinded after January 20, 3021. I’m just sayin’.

[wormgob]

For those that don’t know WeChat is called Weixin in China

The 45 day period ends on September 20

Trump’s executive order is intended to target WeChat specifically. The order may only block Americans’ ability to use WeChat

The other Tencent older messaging app that’s currently still in use in China is called QQ with several hundred million users. Tencent’s QQ app predates their WeChat app and originated as an ICQ-style instant messenger service for Windows

The QQ app also currently works in the U.S. It’s unclear at this time if Trump’s WeChat ban will also affect QQ

It’s not clear which “transactions” are actually prohibited whether it applies to money sent through WeChat or whether it will apply to money transferred between Tencent subsidiaries

Tencent is one of the largest tech companies in the world

Trump’s executive order language is broad, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to prohibit “any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with Tencent Holdings Ltd, or any subsidiary of that entity, as identified by the Secretary of Commerce.”

Any business with a Tencent ownership stake is potentially implicated since an abrupt departure of Tencent from the market could throw their financial situations into chaos in the midst of a global economic crisis

It’s hard to say precisely what the impact will be but the sheer scope of the company’s investments shows how ugly things could get

Tencent’s production company and distributor Tencent Pictures is involved in major Hollywood productions like Wonder Woman, Venom, Terminator: Dark Fate and the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick. It also acts as a major film distributor within China and it owns minority stakes in a range of smaller production companies

Last year Tencent struck a $1.5 billion five-year deal with the NBA to stream its games in China

Snapchat owner Snap sold a 12 percent stake to Tencent in 2017

This year Tencent bought a 10 percent stake in Universal Music Group

Tencent has a 9 percent stake in Spotify with the two partnering on Tencent Music in China

Tencent owns about 14 percent of Kakao which runs the Kakao Games platform and Kakao Talk the most popular chat app in South Korea

Trump’s WeChat ban would also put Apple in a uniquely difficult position. If Apple is forced to remove WeChat from the App Store as it likely will be consumers in China are going to stop buying iPhones. An iPhone without WeChat would be even less useful in China than a Huawei phone without Google is in the West

[deezguy]

It might be possible for the app to still be available on App Stores outside of the US. Devices registered in China will see different apps available in the App Store for China. Apple devices registered in China will not see apps like Pandora and YouTube available. That leads to the possibility that Weixin will be available in the Chinese App Store.

[Wanderland]

Originally Posted by Deezguy

It might be possible for the app to still be available on App Stores outside of the US. Devices registered in China will see different apps available in the App Store for China. Apple devices registered in China will not see apps like Pandora and YouTube available. That leads to the possibility that Weixin will be available in the Chinese App Store.

So Deez, if you happen to already have device purchased in China would Weixin work over here if you have already been using it here, therefore not banned because of origin of device and registration? Getting a little too techie for me. If they ban WeChat and other apps here how do they get them out of service if already used here? Just by not servicing the app in stores here?

[deezguy]

Originally Posted by Wanderland

So Deez, if you happen to already have device purchased in China would Weixin work over here if you have already been using it here, therefore not banned because of origin of device and registration? Getting a little too techie for me. If they ban WeChat and other apps here how do they get them out of service if already used here? Just by not servicing the app in stores here?

It seems like where the device was registered will determine what can be installed. I've seen devices like Huawei purchased and registered in Hong Kong. These devices actually allowed the installation of YouTube and Pandora. Apple iPhones and iPads purchased and registered in China will not allow you to install YouTube or Pandora. Those apps are not even available in the Apple App Store based on registration. Bringing these Chinese registered to the US did not change anything. Thos apps blocked in Chins were still not available.
So, based on what I've seen with Chinese registered Apple devices, it might be possible for Chinese residents registering iPhones and iPads to be able to install Weixin.
As for Chinese registered devices brought to the US, I would think that by performing a full device reset and registering them in the US might solve the problem of blocked apps in China.