WeChat Judge Unlikely to Let Ban Go Forward Amid U.S. Appeal
- U.S.’s security evidence doesn’t change judge’s thinking
- Judge previously stopped U.S. from implementing restrictions
Signage for digital payment services WeChat Pay by Tencent Holdings Ltd., left, and Alipay by Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., are displayed outside a currency exchange in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020.
Photographer: Chan Long Hei/BloombergA judge said she’s unlikely to allow the U.S. to implement prohibitions on WeChat while the government appeals her earlier ruling blocking them.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler said at a hearing Thursday that she wasn’t inclined to grant the government’s request for a stay pending appeal. The additional evidence the Justice Department provided to support its national security concerns hasn’t changed her analysis that the prohibitions would violate the free-speech rights of millions of Chinese-speaking Americans who depend on the app, Beeler said.