Biden Drops Ban on TikTok, other Chinese Apps

The US President Joe Biden has dropped the former Trump administration's executive order that blocked the US operations with TikTok and other Chinese apps like WeChat and called for a security review of the apps. These apps were banned due to national security concerns that arose in 2017, as the Chinese law ordered that any Chinese company share data with the Chinese government upon request.

Now, President Biden has revoked and replaced three major E.O.s that primarily aimed to prohibit transactions with TikTok, WeChat, and eight other communications and financial technology software applications; out of three, two of the EOs are subject to litigation. In their place, the Biden administration has issued a new executive order that directs the use of a criteria-based decision framework and evidence-based analysis to address the risks posed by the app developers.

The US ban put pressure on the China-based company to sell the app's US platform to Oracle and Walmart under Trump, but the app ultimately decided in February not to sell its ownership. After revoking the ban, TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance has stated that it does not share any user information with the Chinese Communist Party.