The WeChat ban vs. the First Amendment

The Trump Administration said it would challenge a federal court ruling Sept 20 that temporarily blocked its attempt to curb the use of Chinese messaging and e-commerce app WeChat in the US. WeChat's ban has had a lower profile than TikTok's, but the fate of the app, widely used by Chinese people around the world to stay in touch with family and friends, is at least as consequential. The ruling suggests that WeChat's fate in the US could be decided not only on grounds of national security and commercial regulations but also around freedom of speech principles.

"It's a mistake to think of this as (only) a sanction on TikTok and WeChat," said Jameel Jaffer, the inaugural director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. "It's a serious restriction on the First Amendment rights of US citizens and residents — a restriction that the Trump admin should have to justify." In her ruling, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler of the US District Court of Northern California, said that she would issue an injunction to block the Commerce Department's ban of WeChat because the case's plaintiffs, a group representing WeChat users, made a compelling enough case that the ban violated their First Amendment rights. The judge noted there are no substitute apps for Chinese-speaking Americans to use. Millions of Americans use WeChat to communicate with loved ones in China. The app is also relied on by many Chinese-owned businesses in the US.