A district court judge of USA issued a nationwide ruling against President Donald Trump's executive order, thereby preventing a ban on the WeChat app in the country.
The decision concerned a lawsuit filed by WeChat users alleging that the ban undermines the free expression rights of US citizens.
The presiding judge in the case, Laurel Beeler, ruled that the WeChat ban should be lifted, as plaintiffs raised serious questions about whether the ban affects the US Constitution. He also acknowledged that the ban would put a lot of trouble on plaintiffs as it would shut down a major media outlet for the Chinese community.
Beeler added that it was not convinced whether the ban would address national concerns. better safety raised by Trump, due to the fact that there is very "little evidence".
"Certainly national security is important. But on this record – while the government has proven that its activities China raise significant national security concerns – it has not provided evidence that banning WeChat targeting all US users is effective for these concerns,” Beeler said in decision her.
"As the plaintiffs point out, there are obvious alternatives solutions αντί μιας πλήρης απαγόρευσης, όπως η απαγόρευση της WeChat από κυβερνητικές συσκευές, όπως έκανε η Αυστραλία ή η λήψη άλλων μέτρων για την αντιμετώπιση της ασφάλειας των δεδομένων.”
The ban, which would take effect on Sunday, was announced by the US Department of Commerce late last week.
The ban sought to exclude TikTok and WeChat, as well as to them remove by app Stores Apple and Google.
The ban would not prevent existing users from using the apps, as the apps were already installed before being removed from the App Stores.
