NEW YORK — This morning, the Commerce Department announced that it would implement two executive orders that President Trump issued last month by prohibiting the popular TikTok and WeChat mobile applications from being distributed in the United States. The prohibitions are set to take effect on Sunday.

The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, Executive Director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

“The Commerce Department’s decision to bar transactions with TikTok and WeChat raises serious First Amendment concerns and should be scrutinized carefully by the courts. The Supreme Court held 50 years ago that the First Amendment protects Americans’ right to access foreign media. This protection is no less important today. The privacy and security concerns with platforms like TikTok and WeChat are real, but we should be wary of setting a precedent that would give this president, and every future one, broad power to interfere with Americans’ access to information and ideas from abroad.”

For more information, contact: Lorraine Kenny, Communications Director, lorraine.kenny@knightcolumbia.org.