ACLU Comment on TikTok and WeChat Transaction Prohibition

WASHINGTON — The Department of Commerce today issued an order implementing President Trump's executive orders sanctioning WeChat and TikTok transactions in the United States.

Below is comment from Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project:

“This order violates the First Amendment rights of people in the United States by restricting their ability to communicate and conduct important transactions on the two social media platforms. The order also harms the privacy and security of millions of existing TikTok and WeChat users in the United States by blocking software updates, which can fix vulnerabilities and make the apps more secure. In implementing President Trump’s abuse of emergency powers, Secretary Ross is undermining our rights and our security. To truly address privacy concerns raised by social media platforms, Congress should enact comprehensive surveillance reform and strong consumer data privacy legislation.”

An ACLU blog post on President Trump’s August executive orders relating to TikTok and WeChat is here: https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/dont-ban-tiktok-and-wechat/.