Security News > 2020 > September > Bad news for 'cool dads' trying to bond with their teens: China-owned TikTok and WeChat face US download ban by Sunday

The US Department of Commerce has threatened to ban new downloads of Chinese-owned social media platforms Tiktok and Wechat from app stores this weekend.

Starting from Sunday 20 September, the two Chinese-owned apps will be banned from being hosted on US app stores.

Payment processing through either app will also be banned within the US. From 12 November Tiktok will also be banned from being hosted or delivered in America, or served over a CDN, or peered, or from making "Any utilization of the mobile application's constituent code, functions, or services in the functioning of software or services developed and/or accessible within the U.S." Wechat is subject to the same bans but starting on Sunday rather than in November.

Looks like app updates and new installations banned Sunday for TikTok and November hard cut.

The door remains open for US president Donald Trump to step in and approve a planned partnership between Tiktok owner Bytedance and Oracle, which would avert a total ban on the app in America.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/09/18/tiktok_wechat_download_ban_planned/