WeChat ban: US appeal court rejects government request to immediately remove app from Apple, Google stores

The US Justice Department requested that the appeal court allow the government to immediately ban Apple and Google from offering WeChat for download in the US

The three-judge panel for the court says the government had not demonstrated it would ‘suffer an imminent, irreparable injury’ pending the appeal

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Tencent’s WeChat has an average of 19 million daily active users in the United States. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:37am, 27 Oct 2020Updated: 10:17pm, 27 Oct 2020

A US appeal court on Monday rejected a Justice Department request that it allow the government to immediately ban Apple and Alphabet’s Google from offering Tencent Holding’s WeChat for download in US app stores.

The three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said in a brief order the government had not demonstrated it would “suffer an imminent, irreparable injury during the pendency of this appeal, which is being expedited”.

On Friday, a US judge in San Francisco rejected a Justice Department request to reverse her decision preventing the WeChat ban sought by the US Commerce Department in response to a lawsuit filed by WeChat users.

The WeChat users said the ruling will avoid an “unprecedented shutdown of a major platform for communications relied on by millions of people in the United States”.

The Commerce Department order, which had been set to take effect September 20, would also bar other US transactions with WeChat, potentially making the app unusable in the United States.

The appeal court said the case will be placed on its January 2021 calendar.

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