President Biden scrapped Trump’s orders to ban TikTok in favor of his own investigation

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President Biden has decided to completely scrap the executive orders put into place by Donald Trump to try and ban TikTok and WeChat. But the President isn’t ready to leave those apps completely alone yet.

Instead, President Biden has decided to conduct his own investigation. The investigation will focus on foreign-controlled mobile apps, not just TikTok, and the risks that come along with them. As always, the main focal point is what these apps do with users’ personal data.

Trump initially signed an executive order to try and get TikTok and WeChat banned completely from the United States. That effort ultimately fell short, after concerns that Trump’s order violated free speech rights.

READ MORE: FCC commissioner urges Apple and Google to ban TikTok

According to PCMag, President Biden is still taking a potential threat from foreign-owned apps like TikTok seriously. The president’s order states that the government will put these apps “through rigorous, evidence-based analysis,” while also maintaining “America’s core values and fundamental freedoms.” 

This is a clear difference from Trump’s plan, which was to make a unilateral decision like he was on an episode of The Apprentice. Trump declared TikTok and WeChat “evil” and tried to play dictator and ban the apps himself. Fortunately, the courts did their job and Trump didn’t get his way.

This is a very interesting development. It’s nice to finally see a president at least conducting himself in the correct ways. National security is important, and it’s obviously important that we are vigilant about any potential threats.

What may be equally important, though, is preserving the American way of life. That means certain freedoms and processes must remain in place to stop our leaders from becoming too big-headed.

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