Executive Order Targets WeChat Over National Security and Data Concerns
A new executive order addresses the national security threat posed by the Chinese-owned application WeChat, citing risks of extensive data collection and Chinese Communist Party access.
The White House issues an executive order to address the national security threat posed by WeChat, a popular mobile application owned by Chinese company Tencent Holdings Ltd. The order builds upon previous actions targeting the information and communications technology supply chain, following a similar executive order aimed at TikTok. It highlights the ongoing risks associated with mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People's Republic of China.
WeChat functions as a messaging, social media, and electronic payment platform with over one billion users worldwide. The application automatically captures vast amounts of information from its users, raising serious concerns that this data collection allows the Chinese Communist Party to access Americans' personal and proprietary information. The executive order points to a 2019 discovery of a Chinese database containing billions of WeChat messages from users across multiple countries as evidence of these security vulnerabilities.
Beyond the risk to American citizens, the order emphasizes the threat WeChat poses to Chinese nationals visiting the United States. The application acts as a mechanism for the Chinese government to monitor its citizens while they are abroad, potentially preventing them from freely experiencing a democratic society. The administration states that further action is necessary to protect the nation's foreign policy and economy from these aggressive data collection practices.