Topline

President Joe Biden on Wednesday revoked a series of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump last year that took steps to ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat in the U.S.

Key Facts

Biden instructed his administration to conduct a more sweeping review of security concerns posed by foreign-controlled apps. 

In August, Trump moved to ban U.S. downloads of TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, and WeChat, which is owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent.

Biden’s new executive order withdraws Trump’s directive and replaces it with an order that calls on the Department of Commerce and other agencies to “evaluate foreign adversary connected software applications” and to establish criteria to protect against future threats presented by foreign-owned apps.

WeChat is a messaging and payments app that has over a billion users worldwide, while TikTok, a video-sharing platform, has nearly 700 million users.

Key Background

In attempting to ban TikTok and WeChat last year, Trump said apps owned by businesses in China “threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” TikTok and a group of U.S.-based WeChat users sued Trump over the move, and the bans were blocked in court. Moved by Trump administration pressure, ByteDance moved to sell a portion TikTok, but a sale was put on pause by the Biden administration in February.

Surprising Fact

Both TikTok and WeChat are still available on the app store.

Chief Critic

In a call with reporters on Wednesday, Biden administration officials said Trump’s executive orders were not drafted “in the soundest fashion.”

What To Watch For

On the call, officials did not say whether the Biden administration would attempt to pressure ByteDance to move user data to a company based in the U.S., according to the New York Times.

Further Reading

Trump Issues Executive Orders Against Chinese Owners Of TikTok And WeChat (Forbes)

Trump Urges Countries To Ban Twitter And Facebook – Says ‘Perhaps’ He Should Have Done It (Forbes)