WeChat: The Next Battle in the US-China Tech War
In the ongoing US-China tech war, President Trump has chosen WeChat, China’s powerhouse app with more than 1 billion active monthly users, as his next opponent after TikTok. On September 18, the Department of Commerce announced a ban on U.S. business transactions with WeChat. Two days later, the app was to be deleted on mobile app stores and U.S. companies were to be blocked from providing in-app services “for the purpose of transferring funds or processing payments within the U.S.” The ban was halted due to a constitutional challenge by a Californian judge, who challenged the ban due to its conflict with First Amendment Rights and its unethical consequences on the Chinese-American community. Trump claims that his decision to single out WeChat is motivated by concerns regarding data security and surveillance practices. However, it is widely understood that ever-increasing Sino-American tensions play a large role in his crackdown on Chinese technology. By attempting to ban WeChat, Trump has further complicated matters by making “the [US-China tech battle] intensely personal for millions of people.”
Since its launch in 2011, WeChat has completely changed China’s tech scene and local lifestyle. Recently valued at $460 billion, the app lets users communicate, share status updates, pay for goods and services, transfer and invest money, rideshare, shop online, book hotels, and more on the super-platform. While almost impossible to function in China without it, WeChat is equally important overseas. According to analytics firm Apptopia, there were 19 million active daily WeChat users in the United States between May and August 2020, or close to 6% of the national population. Trump has framed his attack on WeChat as a national-security issue, positioning himself as the champion of data privacy and Americans’ online safety. In the order, Trump claimed that “WeChat allow[s] the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information,” while WeChat’s parent company emphasizes the maintenance of the “highest standards” of consumer data privacy.
WeChat’s statements regarding data privacy are questionable, however. In 2016, WeChat ranked dead last in Amnesty International’s “Security rankings of instant messaging services,” receiving an alarming 0 points out of 100. The main reason for the low ranking is the lack of transparency regarding where and how user data is stored. Unlike most messaging apps, WeChat does not offer end-to-end encryption, which means that third parties are able to read all messages on the platform through backdoors. Users remain unaware of where all the information collected is stored, and of what security measures are implemented to safeguard their private data. Furthermore, WeChat is under constant surveillance by the Chinese government given its ubiquity and status as China’s go-to news source. Posts deemed inappropriate by the government are quickly deleted by powerful censorship algorithms, which are developed using data collected from extensive user data surveillance. In 2017, a national cybersecurity law mandated that data generated in China must be stored within borders for at least six months by technology companies. Given China’s lack of transparency surrounding data privacy and storage, Trump’s concerns regarding how the Chinese government handles American data are valid.
However, for the millions of Chinese people living in the United States, data privacy risk is a small price to pay for unconstrained usage of WeChat. The app is by far the easiest way to communicate with loved ones back home, eliminating the hassle of long-distance phone calls and firewalls. Users can transfer money instantaneously through money transfer and red pocket services without dealing with tedious bank procedures and unattractive exchange rates. WeChat is also the lifeline for the 400,000-plus Chinese international students studying in America and living thousands of miles away from home. A ban would completely disconnect them from their loved ones, a prospect that may dissuade prospective international students from studying in America.
Given the extreme consequences, there is speculation that Trump’s motives run deeper than data security concerns. Some Chinese Americans believe the WeChat ban is another manifestation of racism towards China following months of anti-Asian discourse by Americans since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Notably, Trump accused China of covering up the pandemic earlier this year, repeatedly referring to the coronavirus as the “China virus.” This derogatory rhetoric sparked racist attacks towards Chinese Americans, such as a Chinese woman being spit on by a Caucasian male in San Francisco. Lawyers for WeChat claim the prospective ban is an extension of Trump’s ongoing racism by “[singling out] people of Chinese and Chinese-American ancestry and [subjecting] them and people who communicate with them to disparate treatment on the basis of race.”
Whether fueled by genuine security concerns or personal motives, Trump’s targeting of WeChat marks a momentous milestone in the US-China Tech War and Sino-American relations at large. WeChat users are now scrambling for back-up options and transferring data to Skype and LinkedIn, two of the limited platforms accessible in China without a VPN. The future is uncertain: if the ban goes through, Chinese nationals living in the United States may consider moving back home to avoid being caught in the middle of a raging tech war. Above all, the prospective ban jeopardizes Americans’ freedom to use the technology of their choice and make their own decisions regarding data privacy. Trump’s proposed WeChat ban only goes to show that when technology is leveraged as a powerful weapon in political clashes, citizens may end up paying the price.