The order also affects Tencent’s QQ Wallet, Tencent’s QQ messenger, CamScanner, SHAREit, VMate (published by Alibaba Group’s subsidiary UCWeb) and Beijing Kingsoft Office Software’s WPS Office. This follows previous government attempts to ban TikTok and WeChat from app stores in the United States. If you remember, both attempts were blocked by the court on grounds of freedom of expression. A senior administration official said Reuters, however, that the White House believes these specific restrictions would persist – applications like Alipay would not be able to argue a case under the First Amendment, they said.
Like The NY Times observed, the scope of the restrictions would likely be quite limited compared to the impact of a TikTok or WeChat ban. The majority of application users are in China, especially payment applications, which require Chinese bank accounts. That said, the order could still have a negative impact on many Chinese Americans who travel between the two countries, as well as companies that use the applications to serve Chinese customers. The request will go into effect after 45 days, long after Trump leaves office. President-elect Joe Biden may revoke him after taking office, but his side has yet to announce his decision.