WeChat is an app mainly used for communication, such as texting, voice messages, voice calls, and video calls. On September 21, 2020, President Donald Trump ordered an executive ban to have WeChat, a Chinese messaging app, banned from being downloaded. The executive order has been temporarily stopped by a judge, but there is still a possibility for WeChat to be banned in the US.
Because the Chinese government has censored and blocked social media, such as Facebook, WeChat is a daily essential for communicating with friends and family who live in China. It is frequently used by Chinese immigrants to inexpensively connect with their relatives. For those of the older generation who don’t speak English, WeChat is necessary for them to stay socially connected. WeChat has many functions, like a social media app, a messaging app, a location finder, a photo album, and more. It’s a simple app to use and switching to a different app would be a difficult change, especially for the older generation.
Although WeChat hasn’t been banned yet, the problem hasn’t been resolved. It might not seem like a big deal to have the app banned, but for the millions of people who use it in the US, WeChat being banned is a severe situation that will impact the way Americans communicate with people in China.