Biden Administration Revokes Trump EOs Targeting TikTok, WeChat, and Other Chinese Software Apps; Initiates Broader Investigations into Software Apps by Foreign Adversaries
On June 9, 2021, the Biden Administration issued an executive order (EO) entitled “Executive Order on Protecting Americans’ Sensitive Data from Foreign Adversaries.” This EO revoked three prior Trump Administration EOs aimed at addressing risks to U.S. national security stemming from Americans’ use of TikTok, WeChat, and other mobile applications (apps) and software developed or controlled by the following Chinese entities: Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, and WPS Office and their subsidiaries. Because President Trump’s prohibitions on the use of these apps and software were already entangled in litigation, this move by President Biden was not entirely unexpected. President Biden’s new EO renders much of the pending litigation moot and paves the way for new national security investigations. More specifically, the new EO states that President Biden is examining a broader range of threats to U.S. national security posed by software app developers from all “foreign adversary” nations and will consider regulating and possibly prohibiting transactions with foreign adversaries deemed to pose serious risks to the national security, economic security, and foreign policy interests of the United States, including entities involved in “serious human rights abuses.”
Source:
