Judge halts Trump administration’s order to remove Chinese-owned WeChat from app stores

Judge halts Trump administration’s order to remove Chinese-owned WeChat from app stores on grounds it would ‘affect users’ First Amendment rights’ In a ruling dated Saturday, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in California said the government’s actions would affect users’ First Amendment rights  WeChat is a messaging-focused app popular with Chinese-speaking Americans  A group of WeChat … Read more

Trump to block U.S. downloads of TikTok and WeChat starting Sunday

Americans will no longer be able to download TikTok starting on Sunday when the Trump administration will have it banned from U.S. app stores.  The Commerce Department issued an order Friday that will bar people in the United States from downloading the video sharing app and the Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat, three officials told Reuters. … Read more

WeChat removal could hit iPhone sales in China, analyst predicts

Chinese iPhone sales could decline up to 30 per cent if Apple is forced to remove WeChat from its App Store, an analyst has predicted. The removal of the massively popular chat platform, owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, could adversely impact iPhone sales in the country.  Annual shipments of other Apple hardware devices, including AirPods, iPads … Read more

WeChat monitors international users’ text messages to identify content to censor in China 

WeChat ‘monitors international users’ text messages to preemptively identify content to censor for its Chinese users’ The Citizens Lab studied how WeChat builds their database of blacklisted terms They found the company monitors international messages to preemptively identify potential images or content that should be banned in China The app creates a ‘hash’ code for … Read more