Judge Blocks Trump Ban on WeChat Over First Amendment Issues

While President Trump may have given his "blessing" to an agreement to keep video-sharing app TikTok operational in the U.S., there was no similar deal made for the Chinese mobile-texting app WeChat, owned by Tencent (OTC: TCEHY). There are concerns about the massive amount of user data collected by the app, including on Chinese nationals in the U.S., which it was feared could be given to Beijing to target individuals and exact reprisals against them. The ban was to go into effect at midnight Sunday, but a U.S. judge in California issued a preliminary injunction in favor of WeChat users that blocks implementation of the ban.