Justice Department Asks Judge To Allow U.S. Ban On WeChat

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - The Justice Department on Thursday night asked a federal judge in San Francisco to suspend a ruling allowing the WeChat messaging app to continue to operate in the U.S. while the government files an appeal.

Were the government's motion to be granted, WeChat would have to comply with an executive order issued by President Trump on Aug. 6 that would severely limits WeChat's U.S. operations.

On Sept. 19, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler blocked, on First Amendment grounds, the implementation of the executive order. The judge found that the executive order would have effectively shut down the WeChat messaging app in the United States and deprived a large group of Chinese-speaking Americans with access to their community, both in the United States and in China.

The government argues that WeChat "constitutes a threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States," according to the government's filing.

WeChat began in China as a messaging app and over the years has added additional functionality including calling, video conferencing, and in-app payments.

WeChat is estimated to have more than a billion users worldwide, including 19 million in the United States, according to plaintiffs' complaint.

The government contends the app is used by the Chinese government for surveillance and data collection within the United States and the order was a justified exercise of the president's national security powers against a "foreign adversary whose hostile acts are undisputed, and whose aspirations for global dominance are undisputed."

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