LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - The US Department of Justice asked a federal judge in San Francisco on Friday to allow the government to ban WeChat's app stores in the country.
In the filing, the Justice Department asked US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler to put on hold her preliminary injunction that was issued on Saturday.

That injunction blocked the US Commerce Department's order, which has been originally set to take effect on 20 September, and would ban transactions between the US and Tencent Holdings (owner of WeChat). This would make it unusable in the US.

The Justice Department's filing said Beeler's order was in error and "permits the continued, unfettered use of WeChat, a mobile application that the Executive Branch of government has determined constitutes a threat to US national security and America's foreign policy.

Tencent had put forward a "mitigation proposal" that sought to create a new US version of the app, have security measures protect the new app and manage it through a US-based entity.

Under the proposal, Tencent would be allowed to retain ownership of WeChat .

Beeler said WeChat users who filed a lawsuit "have shown serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim."

The Justice Department filing said "the First Amendment does not bar regulation of WeChat simply because it has achieved the popularity and dependency sought by (China), precisely so it can surveil users, promote its propaganda, and otherwise place US national security at risk."

WeChat has had an average of 19m daily active users in the United States, according to Reuters.

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