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U.S. WeChat Users Alliance v. Trump

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U.S. WeChat Users Alliance v. Trump is a court case pending before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs won a preliminary injunction on September 20, 2020 blocking the Trump administration's ban order against WeChat based on concerns raised about harm to First Amendment rights and the hardships imposed on a minority community using the app as a primary means of communication.[1][2]

Background

WeChat is a highly popular social media app in China. Many American families depend on WeChat as a means of communicating with family and friends in China.[3]

On August 6, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, seeking to ban WeChat in the U.S. in 45 days, due to its connections with the Chinese-owned Tencent. This was signed alongside a similar executive order targeting TikTok and its Chinese-owned ByteDance.[4] Following the EO, the Department of Commerce issued orders on September 18, 2020 to enact the ban on WeChat and TikTok by the end of September 20, 2020, citing national security and data privacy concerns.[5][6]

Plaintiff

The plaintiff is the U.S. WeChat Users Alliance is a non-profit. The alliance's trustees are described by the New York Times as including "several prominent Chinese-American lawyers". The group says it is not connected to Tencent.[2]

Proceedings

Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Commerce order on both TikTok and WeChat on September 20, 2020 based on respective lawsuits, citing the merits of the plaintiffs' First Amendment claims.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Trump administration's WeChat ban is blocked by U.S. district court". Tech Crunch. September 21, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "U.S. Judge Temporarily Halts Trump's WeChat Ban". New York Times. September 20, 2020.
  3. ^ "'It's So Essential': WeChat Ban Makes U.S.-China Standoff Personal". New York Times. September 18, 2020.
  4. ^ Arbel, Tali (August 6, 2020). "Trump bans dealings with Chinese owners of TikTok, WeChat". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  5. ^ Shepardson, David (2020-09-18). "EXCLUSIVE-Trump to block U.S. downloads of TikTok, WeChat on Sunday- officials". Reuters. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  6. ^ Kelly, Makena (2020-09-18). "Trump to ban US TikTok and WeChat app store downloads on September 20th". The Verge. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  7. ^ Shepardson, David (September 20, 2020). "U.S. judge blocks Commerce Department order to remove WeChat from app stores". Reuters. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
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