When Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appears… PAY ATTENTION. In this interview Secretary Ross outlines an announcement today [LINK HERE] about the U.S. will block Chinese owned WeChat, and additional security measures against TikTok.
COMMERCE – […] While the threats posed by WeChat and TikTok are not identical, they are similar. Each collects vast swaths of data from users, including network activity, location data, and browsing and search histories. Each is an active participant in China’s civil-military fusion and is subject to mandatory cooperation with the intelligence services of the CCP. This combination results in the use of WeChat and TikTok creating unacceptable risks to our national security. (more)
Additionally, Secretary Ross discusses sector-specific relief for the airline industry and U.S. farmers. On the farmer side we should all remember any confrontation with Beijing could lead to China pulling back from purchase agreements. China cannot feed itself and is dependent on imported food products, so the scale of any pull-back is not known.
DETAILS – In response to President Trump’s Executive Orders signed August 6, 2020, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) today announced prohibitions on transactions relating to mobile applications (apps) WeChat and TikTok to safeguard the national security of the United States.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the U.S. Today’s announced prohibitions, when combined, protect users in the U.S. by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality.
“Today’s actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party,” said U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “At the President’s direction, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws and regulations.”
While the threats posed by WeChat and TikTok are not identical, they are similar. Each collects vast swaths of data from users, including network activity, location data, and browsing and search histories. Each is an active participant in China’s civil-military fusion and is subject to mandatory cooperation with the intelligence services of the CCP. This combination results in the use of WeChat and TikTok creating unacceptable risks to our national security.
As of September 20, 2020, the following transactions are prohibited:
- Any provision of service to distribute or maintain the WeChat or TikTok mobile applications, constituent code, or application updates through an online mobile application store in the U.S.;
- Any provision of services through the WeChat mobile application for the purpose of transferring funds or processing payments within the U.S.
As of September 20, 2020, for WeChat and as of November 12, 2020, for TikTok, the following transactions are prohibited:
- Any provision of internet hosting services enabling the functioning or optimization of the mobile application in the U.S.;
- Any provision of content delivery network services enabling the functioning or optimization of the mobile application in the U.S.;
- Any provision directly contracted or arranged internet transit or peering services enabling the function or optimization of the mobile application within the U.S.;
- Any utilization of the mobile application’s constituent code, functions, or services in the functioning of software or services developed and/or accessible within the U.S.
Any other prohibitive transaction relating to WeChat or TikTok may be identified at a future date. Should the U.S. Government determine that WeChat’s or TikTok’s illicit behavior is being replicated by another app somehow outside the scope of these executive orders, the President has the authority to consider whether additional orders may be appropriate to address such activities. The President has provided until November 12 for the national security concerns posed by TikTok to be resolved. If they are, the prohibitions in this order may be lifted.
The notices for these actions will be posted on the Federal Register at approximately 8:45AM EDT on Friday, September 18, 2020.
Background:
On August 6, 2020, President Trump signed Executive Orders (E.O.) 13942, Addressing the Threat Posed by TikTok, and E.O. 13943, Addressing the Threat Posed by WeChat. In the E.O.s, the President determined that the apps capture vast swaths of information from U.S. users, leaving the data vulnerable to CCP access for nefarious purposes.
Commerce, at the Direction of the President, was required to identify transactions within 45 days to protect national security and the private data of millions of people across the country. Today’s announced prohibitions fulfill the President’s direction and mitigate national security risks. (link)
If President Trump had a DoJ team as good as his Econ Team he’d be on Easy Street.
AMEN !!
meaning…our country would be on easy street…
Second term will see a massive purge of corruptocrats in DOJ and DOD, if I read POTUS correctly.
Lord, I hope so.
Don’t forget the State Department.
And NIH and CDC.
I believe in the 2nd Term, we will see a PURGE of ALMOST ALL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES THAT ARE NOT REQUIRED…It has taken 4 years but these individuals and departments have been identified. There will be a shrinkage of government NEVER SEEN BEFORE!!!
? Spot on, gunrunner.
I just love the Trump Economic Team. When Sundance post something about them, I get my regular dose of warm fuzzies.
Thank You, Lord, the Trump Economic Team.
Shut them down Donald…The fat kids can put their phone down and maybe do something productive …if their parents don’t mind….what a F world
Watch who screams the loudest about this. Then you’ll know who the Whores of the CCP are.
Mike, I am going to say most of them. Even the ones who are silent (decepticons) and let the others do the screaming.
Anything connected to China is a tool of the CCP (enemy) and should be completely shutdown.
If you did not pick up on this, a reason behind the closing of the Houston Chinese consulate, a bunch of Chinese with fake identifies had set up bogus accounts and were organizind potestss and riots incognito. I will go back and try to find source.
Also, this bogus account bull shit needs to end. To start ban all free email accounts. They should all be verified. Lots to discuss here but later.
Also, all phone calls that can not be traced should not be allowed in the telecom system.
We need to put and end to this building of fake idenities crap.
One of sources to this
https://chinascope.org/archives/24225
And hopefully through this GOOGLE will STOP putting TicTok ads in my email
Rush back on the coup attempt now.
Rush saying Pentagon Generals and their children have taken millions from Communist Chinese in payoffs ???
Yep. Everybody has been slopping at the trough. Pentagon means military treason. Like those non-purged flag officers…McMaster, Kelly, Mattis, McChrystal, McRaven, Milley, and others.
As a McKinney, I take umbrage in that listing. Seems like us Scottish have disproportionate representation in the rogues’ gallery.
Thought “Mac..” was usually Scottish whereas “Mc..” is usually Irish….
The Scots are the Irish, the Irish are the Scots, and the Vikings are them all!
Blasphemy!! ??
McCain, McMuffin, McCabe,Mccarthy, McConnell………….
I want to know when the New Untouchables will be announced. Security peeps with clean backgrounds to clean up this mess and tell the truth! The current crop cannot do it. Not a single whistle-blower among them!
Good to see Secty Ross has recovered from his recent illness!
I admire the efforts of PDJT and Commerce in this regard, but the more egregious collection of data is by Alphabet, in a majority of devices that run Android. This, because GOOG is on our soil. Much more so on Taiwan-produced devices. The foggy expectations of privacy seems to suggest we’ve become tolerant of it.
(Here, let me place my tin foil hat tightly on my head. OK, now I am ready.)
I have a running theory that Google and Alphabet are neck deep with the NSA. Payoff for access to the old GPS array they use for Google Earth.
(I am now putting my foil lined armadillo hat back on the shelf behind my desk.)
YMMV
Here we have proof of China’s very advanced efforts to threaten our economy and national security but “Russia!” is the REAL threat to our democracy./s
When was the last time the big bad Russians developed ANYTHING that Americans would use or want, much less a data collection app like Tiktok? Wechat? When was the last time a novel virus was known to originate in Russia or be created in a Russian bio lab?
The Left is in bed with China. Along with the Rinos. When we consider the Chinese investments in our politicians, our corporations, our real estate, retail markets, technology, academia, and mass media—it’s more like an orgy. Have the Russians infiltrated ANY of these areas?
I can’t count how many times I’ve been called a “Russian troll” or “Comrade”—Maybe I’ll pose these questions in the comment threads and on social media where China’s bitches love to congregate and spill their vitriol and lies.
Nothing for these tyrannical airlines which treat customers like garbage especially with these stupid muzzle mandates. They’ve kicked off flights moms with little kids who refused to wear those stupid masks. How do you force a little kid to wear a mask and why? This is insane. Not one penny for these idiots until these useless masks mandates are done with.
Especially when drs. & scientists say little kids are not transmitting the virus to anyone & little kids don’t get very sick with the virus, unlike the flu.
Watch the Democrat Communist Fascists try to force us to wear masks because of the flu.