Biden’s executive order withdrew a series of Trump-era executive orders that sought to block new downloads of Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat apps which, according to the Trump administration, posed national security concerns with the threat that the sensitive personal data of U.S. users could be collected by China’s government.
Why it matters:
- This decision reveals that Biden administration puts the interests of the Chinese lobby above national security. As Senator Josh Hawley stated on Twitter, the withdrawal of the Trump orders are “a major mistake – shows alarming complacency regarding #China’s access to Americans’ personal information, as well as #China’s growing corporate influence.”
