California judge blocks impending Trump ban on WeChat downloads
A California judge early Sunday blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on downloads of WeChat software just hours before it was set to go into effect, Reuters reports.
WeChat users showed “serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim, the balance of hardships tips in the plaintiffs’ favor,” said U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in San Francisco, according to The Verge.
Beeler had held a rare Saturday afternoon hearing on the ban by the U.S. Department of Commerce, KPIX reported.
The Trump administration announced the ban on WeChat and TikTok downloads Friday, McClatchy News reported. It was set to take effect Sunday.
A release from the U.S. Department of Commerce called the apps a national security threat, a claim TikTok has repeatedly refuted, and said they collect “vast swaths” of user data.
In July, President Donald Trump said he wanted to ban TikTok as punishment for the coronavirus against China, according to McClatchy.
He’s also wanted an American buyer for U.S. operations of TikTok and on Saturday said he’s given his “blessing” for a partnership between the app, Oracle and Walmart, the Associate Press reports.
