28.09.202012:58 Forex Analysis & Reviews: US court postpones the decision to remove WeChat in Apple and Google app stores in the United States

WeChat, a popular Chinese-owned messaging service, has been labeled a threat to national security, placing it under a list of apps to be banned in the United States. However, WeChat is a large platform for communication, one service of which is helping people keep in touch with each other from as far as China to the United States. In fact, the app has about 20 million audience in the US, with which not only Chinese students or expats use it, but also Chinese and American businessmen.

In addition, the functions of its service are large and varied. Wechat has an option to order food, call a taxi, book a hotel and read the news. Even the financial aspect of it is also significant. Through the app, users receive bank statements, pay utility bills and even transfer funds. Although its multifunctionality is fully available only in China, it is also popular in other countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, South Africa and the United States.

In that regard, on Wednesday, September 23, the US court has postponed the decision of the US Department of Commerce to remove the application from Apple and Google app stores. This is because a lawsuit has been filed against the US government, the demands of which were based on the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Judge Laurel Beeler also noted that "the balance of harm tilts in favor of the plaintiffs." At the same time, US authorities failed to provide evidence of a real threat of the service to American users. So as a result, the court decided to give WeChat and the Chinese company Tencent a temporary respite.

In addition, WeChat actually uses encryption, which is standard for such applications. In other words, no one can access the correspondence between two users, as information is never stored on the company's servers. On the contrary, it is quickly deleted after reading, so there is no evidence that personal data of American users is being pulled from the service and passed on to the Chinese authorities. However, this claim is the main argument for the US government's ban on WeChat.

To date, the US Department of Justice has applied to the court with a request to temporarily put off the decision to remove WeChat from Apple and Google app stores. In her address to the judge, Laurel Beeler emphasizes that her ruling gives WeChat every chance to collect data for its appeal smoothly.

Truth be told, China's online space is so different from Europe and the United States. Chinese citizens do not use Facebook, Google, YouTube and Instagram, as the Chinese authorities have long blocked services that do not pass censorship and harm security under the Golden Shield project. WeChat, having passed the standards of the Chinese government, has replaced these apps for Chinese users.