An American Judge Blocked the Government's Ban on WeChat Downloads #News

New York: An American judge blocked the government's ban on WeChat downloads on Sunday, before the ongoing technology and espionage between the government and Washington came into effect.

The Trump administration has banned the download of messaging platform WeChat and the hugely popular video-sharing app TikTok. Both are owned by Chinese companies. Currently, these two bans are suspended.

A California court ruling issued a "national injunction" over the government's WeChat ruling, and the judge expressed concern about freedom of expression. According to experts, this order delayed WeChat and failed to video chat with family and friends in the United States.

Owned by technology giant TenCent, WeChat has approximately 19 million active users in the United States.

When President Donald Trump sought a breakthrough with voters to win the second general election on November 3, he increasingly focused on national security and a positive stance toward China.

He often blames Democratic opponent Joe Biden for his weakness against Beijing.

The president said on Saturday that he has approved an agreement allowing Silicon Valley giant Oracle to become TikTok's data partner to avoid the application's shutdown.

The two companies announced deals that include Walmart as a business partner and will create a new American company called TikTok Global.

What is WeChat?

WeChat was established in 2011. It is a multifunctional application that allows users to send messages, make mobile payments and use local services. It is described as a "universal application" in China, with more than one billion users every month.

Like all Chinese social media platforms, WeChat must censor content that the government considers illegal. In March, a report stated that WeChat began reviewing keywords related to the coronavirus outbreak on January 1.

But WeChat insists that encryption means that other people cannot "snoop" your messages, and content such as text, audio, and images are not stored on its servers. Once all intended recipients read them, they will be delete.