Junking another Trump administration move that threatened to ban new downloads of WeChat and TikTok, the new US dispensation led by President Joe Biden on Wednesday recalled a series of executive orders in this regard and ordered a new Commerce Department review of security concerns posed by those apps.
The White House in an announcement on Wednesday also said that the administration of former President Donald Trump had attempted to block new users from downloading the apps and ban other technical transactions.
The Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat had later threatened to effectively block the apps’ use in the United States. The courts blocked those orders that never took effect.
Meanwhile, Biden’s new executive order revokes the WeChat and TikTok orders, along with another in January that targeted eight other communications and financial technology software applications.
A separate US national security review of TikTok remains ongoing, a White House official said.
