US President Donald Trump has issued executive orders that would ban TikTok and WeChat in the US in 45 days if sold by their Chinese-owned parent companies.
The executive orders issued by President Trump state that the video sharing app TikTok and the group chat app WeChat will be prohibited from operating in the US if their Chinese-owned parent companies fail to sell them in 45 days.
The orders did not indicate that a certain amount of money from the sale needs to be sent to the US Treasury Department, which Trump has been insisting on in the past few days.
Treasury cut on Microsoft-Tiktok deal
Prior to the issuance of the executive orders, President Trump said he demanded a “substantial portion”of the purchase price during a call he had with Microsoft regarding it’s possible deal for the US unit of TikTok.
He also warned that he will ban Chinese tech firm ByteDance’s video sharing app if no deal has been signed by September 15. ByteDance is being pressured to sell its US business after Trump declared a possible ban on Chinese tech companies.
Earlier this week, Microsoft affirmed that its talks with the China-based company were about acquiring its social app TikTok in the US. According to Microsoft, it will continue working with the US government on a deal and plans to finalize the talks by September 15.
Microsoft’s statement comes two days after media outlets revealed the company’s interest in buying TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance.
"This new structure would build on the experience TikTok users currently love, while adding world-class security, privacy, and digital safety protections," Microsoft said.
The tech giant added: "The operating model for the service would be built to ensure transparency to users as well as appropriate security oversight by governments in these countries."
The executive orders
The TikTok order states that after 45 days, "any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with ByteDance Ltd.," will be prohibited.
The order also makes the accusation that the social media platform "automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users," such as location data and browsing and search histories, which "threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans' personal and proprietary information -- potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage."
Meanwhile, the executive order issued for Tencent-owned WeChat, which allows its users to transfer funds to each other, states that financial transactions with Tencent will be banned.
The order prohibits "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. (a.k.a. Téngxùn Kònggǔ Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī), Shenzhen, China, or any subsidiary of that entity, as identified by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) under section 1(c) of this order."
US policymakers have been expressing concerns regarding possible national security issues surrounding the apps.
According to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the US government was conducting a national security review of TikTok and was was preparing to make a policy recommendation prior to the issuance of the orders.
However, TikTok spokesperson Josh Gartner issued a statement saying: "TikTok is loved by 100 million Americans because it is a home for entertainment, self-expression, and connection. TikTok will be here for many years to come."
