New York (AFP)
A Californian judge has temporarily suspended a decision by the American administration which was, in the name of national security, to prevent from Sunday the normal functioning in the United States of the WeChat application, of the Chinese giant Tencent.
The Commerce Department announced on Friday that it would ban downloading of the platform used by some 19 million users on U.S. soil for messaging, shopping, payments and other services, as well as its use for any transfer. financial and other functions.
It had been challenged in court by a group of users.
According to the decision of Judge Laurel Beeler, consulted by AFP, the plaintiffs have shown that the decision of the Department of Commerce raised "serious questions" about the respect of the First Amendment of the American Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression .
The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to AFP's requests.
The download ban announced on Friday also affected the popular TikTok short video app.
But the latter was postponed Saturday evening to September 27 as TikTok reached an agreement on the management of its activities in the United States with Oracle and Walmart having received the green light from the American president.
This deal has yet to be finalized by the companies involved and approved by a US government national security committee.
The Commerce Department justified its decision on Friday by saying that "the Chinese Communist Party has demonstrated that it has the means and the intention to use these applications to threaten national security, foreign policy and the economy of the States. United".
© 2020 AFP