President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to revoke the bans on TikTok and WeChat put in place by the Trump administration.
Instead, he has instructed the Commerce Security to investigate any apps to ties to Chinese governmental departments or third parties that could pose a security risk to the country.
“The administration is committed to promoting an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet and to protecting human rights online and offline, and to supporting a vibrant global digital economy,” a senior administration official said in a statement.
“The challenge that we’re addressing with this EO is that certain countries, including China, do not share these commitments or values and are instead working to leverage digital technologies and American data in ways that present unacceptable national security risks.”
This follows last week’s revision of the Chinese ban list, which now includes 59 companies.
