Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration’s Order to Remove WeChat From App Stores

Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration’s Order to Remove WeChat From App Stores
The messenger app WeChat is seen among U.S. flags in this illustration picture taken on Aug. 7, 2020. Florence Lo/Reuters
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A U.S. judge early Sept. 20 halted the Trump administration from requiring Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google to remove Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat for downloads by late Sept. 20.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in San Francisco said in an order that WeChat users who filed a lawsuit “have shown serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim, the balance of hardships tips in the plaintiffs’ favor.”