World

US Appeals Court Upholds Injunction Blocking WeChat Ban

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a US Department of Justice (DoJ) request to overturn a September 20 ruling that found the federal government's ban on WeChat violates free speech.
Sputnik

The three-judge panel moved Monday to uphold US Magistrate Laurel Beeler's Friday ruling in favor of a collection of WeChat users. The referenced ruling blocked the Trump-ordered, immediate ban on the popular social media app in the US web stores of Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.  

The US judges wrote that the federal government failed to demonstrate it would "suffer an imminent, irreparable injury during the pendency of this appeal, which is being expedited," as reported by Reuters

This comes days after Beeler's October 23 assertion that the DoJ did not supply new evidence to support its allegations regarding national security and the app.  

Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd., which owns WeChat, has disputed the national security concerns raised by US officials, claiming it “incorporates the highest standards of user privacy and data security.”

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