Donald Trump steps on China’s Apps as they could build new ‘Firewall’

A ban by President Donald Trump administration on Chinese mobile apps such as TikTok and We Chat risks fragmenting an already fragile global internet.

A ban by President Donald Trump administration on Chinese mobile apps such as TikTok and We Chat risks fragmenting an already fragile global internet and creating an American version of China’s “Great Firewall.”

Fears about the global internet ecosystem intensified this week with Trump’s executive orders banning the popular video app TikTok and Chinese social network WeChat, following a US government directive to prohibit the use of other “untrusted” applications and services from China.

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The restrictions announced on the basis of what Trump called national security threats move further away from the long-promoted American ideal of global, open internet and could invite other countries to follow suit, analysts said.

“It’s really an attempt to fragment the internet and the global information society along US and Chinese lines, and shut China out of the information economy,” said Milton Mueller, a Georgia Tech University professor and founder of the Internet Governance Project.