⁍ The Justice Department asked a federal judge in San Francisco early on Friday to allow the government to bar Apple and Google from offering WeChat for download in U.S. app stores pending an appeal.
⁍ That injunction blocked the U.S. Commerce Department order which was set to take effect late on Sept. 20 and that would also bar other U.S. transactions with Tencent Holding’s 0700.HK WeChat.
⁍ WeChat has had an average of 19 million daily active users in the United States.
– A ban on the popular WeChat app in the US is on hold after a federal judge in San Francisco granted a temporary restraining order, the Guardian reports. According to Reuters, the Commerce Department had banned the app in the US on the grounds that it was being used by the Chinese government to interfere with the US election. The ban was set to go into effect later this month, but US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler issued a preliminary injunction against it on Saturday. On Friday, the US Justice Department asked Beeler to put the ban on hold pending an appeal. The ban on WeChat, which is owned by China’s Tencent Holding, was set to go into effect Sept. 20. According to the Guardian, WeChat has around 19 million daily active users in the US. It’s popular among Chinese students, Americans living in China, and some Americans who have personal or business relationships in China. It’s also an essential part of daily life for many in China. It’s similar to Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Venmo. It’s also used by more than 1 billion users around the world. It’s unclear if WeChat will still be available in the US after the ban is lifted.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wechat/justice-department-asks-judge-to-allow-us-to-bar-wechat-from-us-app-stores-idUSKCN26G0FU