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Security China Privacy United States

US Threatens To Restrict WeChat Following TikTok Backlash (techcrunch.com) 36

Amid intense scrutiny over TikTok as a potential national security risk in the U.S., WeChat, the essential tool for Chinese people's day-to-day life, is also taking heat from Washington. TechCrunch reports: White House trade advisor Peter Navarro told Fox Business on Sunday that "[TikTok] and WeChat are the biggest forms of censorship on the Chinese mainland, and so expect strong action on that." Navarro alleged that "all of the data that goes into those mobile apps that kids have so much fun with and seem so convenient, it goes right to servers in China, right to the Chinese military, the Chinese communist party, and the agencies which want to steal our intellectual property."

It's unclear how the U.S. restriction will play out, if it will at all, though some WeChat users are already speculating workarounds to stay in touch with their family and friends back home. In the case that the Tencent-owned messenger is removed by Apple App Store or Google Play, U.S.-based users could switch to another regional store to download the app. If it were an IP address ban, they could potentially access the app through virtual private networks (VPNs), tools that are familiar to many in China to access online services blocked by Beijing's Great Firewall.

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US Threatens To Restrict WeChat Following TikTok Backlash

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  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday July 13, 2020 @08:18PM (#60295622)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      What happened to the free market? When did combating censorship with more censorship become a good idea?

      I thought the way to defeat these evils was to win the argument, to make a better app.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday July 13, 2020 @08:26PM (#60295644)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Re:WeFsck. (Score:5, Informative)

      by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Monday July 13, 2020 @10:13PM (#60295884)

      Indeed. I was in Shanghai for a few months last fall. It is basically impossible to exist in Chinese society without WeChat on your phone.

      I kept 100 RMB in my pocket, just in case, and never used it. Many vendors don't accept cash anymore.

      • by gzqx ( 6594646 )
        Actually one can. I am a native Chinese and I have tried to do so for half a year since I don't want to install this spying bullshit which put rubbish everywhere in my phones' SD card instead of following android standard. There are tons of tweak on GitHub which enables people to log in WeChat on computer that has logined before without the idiot mandatory scan-to-login design (which is exactly what this design is trying to prevent.... ironically), so I am checking WeChat on computer as if it is a work emai
      • I've not had any trouble paying for anything with cash and/or debit card in Guangzhou.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It's as bad in the west. Many places don't accept cash now (thanks to coronavirus) and to get a bank card you need to provide multiple forms of ID, they do credit checks on you, you have to give them your address and phone number etc. The retailer gets your identity when you pay on card.

      Some of the mobile payment systems like Google Pay and Apple Pay claim to protect your privacy a bit more but you are really just choosing a different company to share the data with.

  • I might have missed something, but I don't believe there is a governmental blacklist for IP addresses? The closest I can think of is maybe Child Porn IP's, but I think that is more voluntary?
  • to tell us how private companies pushing their bullshit woke politics via Facebook and twitter apps is way worse than the actual governing Communist Party of a foreign adversary state having a legal and technical capability to tap your phone anywhere in the world. No good guys to be found, eh?
  • USA, India. Who banned TikTok? USA, India. There is a hidden plot we don't know yet.

    • USA, India. Who banned TikTok? USA, India. There is a hidden plot we don't know yet.

      IKR? The evil bastards plan to ban TikTok, then... use the... corona cases... border...

      Wait, what?

  • I understand a restriction of apps on company mobiles, but we certainly shouldn't dismiss any of US created apps as not being a securityrisk. It's well known US agencies like NSA are spying on companies to gain their IP. Let people just use tiktok or wechat have on their mobile if they want to. Apps can be easily checked for code that might be a problem, so it's something different than actual security problems the US seems to claim.. It's just trying to undermine other nations and trying to force their tec

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