What is WeChat and why does Donald Trump want to ban the Chinese app in the US?

WeChat has 1.2 billion monthly active users 
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images
Amelia Heathman7 August 2020

It’s safe to say US president Donald Trump is not a fan of China and its tech companies.

Just this week, Trump signed an executive order to ban transactions with ByteDance, the owner of the hit social media platform TikTok, and Tencent, the owner of WeChat.

Whilst TikTok has exploded in popularity in recent years with over 800 million monthly active users, WeChat isn’t as well-known outside of China.

Here’s what you need to know about the app and how it works.

What is WeChat?

WeChat launched in 2011 as a messaging app in China and though some compare it to WhatsApp, which launched in 2009, it’s very different in terms of its functionality.

The app can be used to message friends, whether by text, voice or video chat. Each person has a QR code connected to their profile which can be scanned to allow them to talk to other people online.

However, it’s not just a messaging app but more a social platform as it features a huge range of bots or Mini Programs which function like individual apps on their own.

If you want to order a taxi or a food delivery, you can do it through a WeChat bot instead of navigating to a separate app. The app allows you to make payments too, whether it's when interacting with a bot or via the WeChat mobile wallet in stores. You can play games too all in WeChat.

It’s thought WeChat has around 1.2 billion monthly active users.

Why does Donald Trump want to ban WeChat?

The executive order Trump issued this weekend would effectively ban WeChat from operating in the US in 45 days if it is not sold by its parent company, Tencent. In particular, it would ban financial transactions with Tencent, so anyone using the app in the US would be unable to transfer funds to one another.

The issue comes back to national security, with policy officials suspicious of the apps and their owners. Such as the instance with TikTok, officials are concerned that data on US citizens who are using the apps would end up in the hands of the Chinese government.

The US isn't the only country with concerns over WeChat. In June, India banned the app, along with TikTok and 57 other Chinese-built software apps, with the government saying they were a danger to the country's national security.

Tencent and ByteDance have both said they don’t share data with the Chinese government and do not store international user data in China.

Some speculate that Trump’s issues with the likes of TikTok go beyond just suspicions about China. In June, there was a coordinated effort on TikTok for people to sign up to a Trump campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma and then not attend in-person, which may have led to low turnout numbers for the rally despite receiving 800,000 applications for tickets.

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