President Joe Biden signed an executive order yesterday setting out new criteria for the government to follow when assessing the risk of foreign technology applications, including TikTok and WeChat. With the new executive order, Biden is effectively reversing three orders signed by Donald Trump while he was president that called for a ban on transactions between American businesses and TikTok and WeChat. One of the orders also sought to ban TikTok, resulting in a protracted legal battle. TikTok remains available and popular in the US.
Under Biden's new order, the Commerce Department will review apps linked to foreign adversaries and determine what should be considered dangerous. This includes criteria for evaluating transactions with software apps linked to a foreign adversary.
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The order considers transactions to pose “increased risk” when they involve applications owned or controlled by individuals who support foreign military organizations or intelligence agencies , or when the applications collect sensitive personal data.
See also: Biden: Signed executive order to strengthen US cybersecurity
The order also calls on the Commerce Department to work with other agencies to make recommendations to protect U.S. consumer data from foreigners and requires the Department to propose further actions and legislation to address the risks.
Under the previous administration, TikTok remained in a precarious position, as Trump tried to ban the app, saying it was associated with the Chinese government and posed a threat to the US.
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However, Biden's executive order revokes the order for WeChat and TikTok, as well as another one that concerned eight communications and financial transaction apps.
A White House official said an investigation is underway to determine whether TikTok actually poses a threat to US national security.
Source: CNBC
