In this photo illustration a Tik Tok logo seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo by Omar Marques / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)
Mobile phone illustrations in Poland – 17 Feb 2020
(AP) – The US Commerce Department says it is prohibiting Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat from app stores as of Sunday, citing national security and data privacy concerns.
Google and Apple, the owners of the major mobile app stores, and WeChat owner Tencent did not immediately reply to questions. Oracle, which had proposed a deal with TikTok, also did not reply.
TikTok says it’s disappointed. It’s not clear what will happen to WeChat, which has millions of U.S. users. A further ban on the much more popular TikTok goes into effect on November 12 — shortly after the U.S. election.
