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US-TECHNOLOGY-LITIGATION-WECHAT
Biden team seeks pause in US WeChat ban litigation
NEW YORK, Feb 12, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The Biden administration asked a US
court Thursday to suspend litigation connected to former president Donald
Trump’s proposed ban on WeChat while it reviews the policy.
The Justice Department filed a request with the US Court of Appeals seeking
a suspension of the case. That follows action Wednesday when the department
asked a federal court for a pause on proceedings aimed at banning TikTok.
Newly-installed Commerce Department officials have begun a review of the
prior administration’s actions on WeChat, including “an evaluation of the
underlying record justifying those prohibitions,” the DOJ said in the filing.
“The government will then be better positioned to determine” whether “the
regulatory purpose of protecting the security of Americans and their data,
continue to warrant the identified prohibitions,” the filing added.
Trump issued an executive order last August declaring both WeChat and
TikTok as threats to national security because of data collection practices
affecting Americans.
However, US courts have blocked the bans from going into effect, leading to
appeals lodged in the final months of the Trump administration seeking to
override the lower courts.
The DOJ said the Commerce Department “remains committed to a robust defense
of national security as well as ensuring the viability of our economy and
preserving individual rights and data.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/0933 hrs