What's Happening With TikTok and WeChat?
September 22 2020 - 6:59PM
Dow Jones News
By WSJ Noted.
Everyone wants to know about: TikTok and WeChat
TikTok and WeChat users in the U.S. have been granted a reprieve
from potential bans, but for different reasons. TikTok, owned by
Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., will partner with Oracle Corp. and
Walmart Inc. to become a U.S.-based company.
Bytedance and Oracle have given dueling messages about the
ownership structure for a proposed U.S.-based version of TikTok.
The squabble raises fresh questions about the fragility of the
deal, which President Trump signed off on in principle over the
weekend, seemingly saving the popular video-sharing app from
extinction in the U.S. Officials in China will also have to sign
off on the transaction.
Separately, a federal judge in California temporarily blocked
the Trump administration's executive order curbing Americans' use
of WeChat, owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd. The ban would have
restricted U.S. users from downloading the app as well as engaging
in other functions on WeChat, as of 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 21. U.S.
Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler said in an order: "WeChat is
effectively the only means of communication for many in the
community, not only because China bans other apps, but also because
Chinese speakers with limited English proficiency have no options
other than WeChat." The app, which has 19 million regular users in
the U.S., could still be banned if the government files an appeal
to the ruling to put the issue before another judge. It could take
some time for a final ruling on the ban to happen.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 22, 2020 18:44 ET (22:44 GMT)
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