A U.S. district court judge has ruled nationally against President Donald Trump's executive order, blocking the ban on WeChat 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 she was not convinced whether the ban would address Trump's national security concerns because there was "too little evidence".
"Certainly national security is important. But on this record – while the government has proven that its activities Chinas raise significant national security concerns – it has not provided evidence that banning WeChat targeting all US users is effective for those concerns,” Beeler told the decision her.
“As the plaintiffs point out, there are obvious alternatives to an outright ban, such as banning WeChat from government devices, as Australia has done or λήψη other measures to address the security of data. "
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 from the Apple and Google app stores.
The ban would not prevent existing users from using the apps, as the apps were already installed before being removed from the App Stores.
