prohibition —

Trump admin orders TikTok, WeChat gone from app stores on Sunday

Turns out the list of “transactions” is “anything that makes the app function.”

Trump admin orders TikTok, WeChat gone from app stores on Sunday

Consumers inside the US will no longer be allowed to download TikTok or WeChat from any US app store after Sunday, the Trump administration announced today.

Any "provision of service to distribute or maintain" the mobile applications or their "constituent code" is prohibited beginning after 11:59pm ET September 20, the Department of Commerce said this morning. That means Google Play and Apple's App Store will have to yank their listings for the apps, and users who already have one or both apps will not be able to download updates or patches for them.

"At the President’s direction, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of US laws and regulations," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a written statement.

President Donald Trump signed executive orders banning TikTok and WeChat on August 6. Those orders gave the Department of Commerce a 45-day window to outline what, exactly, a ban would entail. That 45-day period expires on Sunday, September 20, so that is when the bans take effect.

Not only will app stores not be allowed to permit new downloads, but Internet hosting services and content delivery network services will also be banned from "enabling the functioning or the optimization" of the apps, and "directly contracted or arranged Internet transit or peering services" will also be prohibited. All platforms will also be prohibited from providing services through WeChat specifically that allow anyone to transfer funds or process payment within the US.

The orders were crafted not to penalize individual users, senior Commerce officials said in a press call, but instead to prevent anyone from effectively recycling the apps' source code into a new app, duplicating the apps' functionality, serving up a reskinned version of either app, or in some other way crafting a workaround.

All of those prohibitions go into effect for WeChat on Sunday night. For TikTok, however, the prohibitions are effective as of November 12—after the US presidential election. Commerce officials said that TikTok's deadline was extended not because of political considerations, but to align with a 90-day window given in the August 14 executive order (PDF) that required TikTok parent company ByteDance to divest the app.

Software firm Oracle struck a deal with TikTok that could allow it to continue operating inside the United States. That deal would give Oracle a 20 percent stake in the company and pave the way to a global initial public offering of stock, according to media reports.

Trump could still rescind the order relating to TikTok before it goes into effect on Sunday if the Oracle deal gains approval before that point. That transaction is currently under review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the White House. The November 12 deadline for TikTok also gives all the parties involved in that deal time to finalize their negotiations and gain approval, Commerce officials said.

Commerce officials declined to name companies or describe what types of companies—other than mobile app store hosts Apple and Google—that might be affected by the bans, citing ongoing litigation in both cases. They also declined to describe what specific penalties or enforcement mechanisms might be put in place for businesses found to be violating the order.

TikTok in a statement said it is "disappointed" in and disagreed with the Commerce Department's decision to block downloads and updates.

"We've already committed to unprecedented levels of additional transparency and accountability well beyond what other apps are willing to do," TikTok said. "We will continue to challenge the unjust executive order, which was enacted without due process and threatens to deprive the American people and small businesses across the US of a significant platform for both a voice and livelihoods."

Apple and Google did not immediately return Ars' requests for comment.

Channel Ars Technica