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Chevron asks employees to delete WeChat after US ban
Reuters
Last Updated IST
WeChat is an all-in-one mobile app that combines messaging, social media, payment functions and other services and boasts more than a billion users globally. Credit: Reuters
WeChat is an all-in-one mobile app that combines messaging, social media, payment functions and other services and boasts more than a billion users globally. Credit: Reuters

US oil giant Chevron Corp has asked employees globally to delete Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat from their work phones, following the Trump administration's executive order to ban the social media app, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

A US judge on Sunday blocked a government order requiring Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google to remove WeChat for downloads on national security grounds.

The US Commerce Department said on Monday it would challenge the order.

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WeChat is an all-in-one mobile app that combines messaging, social media, payment functions and other services and boasts more than a billion users globally.

Chevron, in a staff email, identified WeChat as a "non-compliant application" and asked those with the app on their work handsets to delete it before September 27 or face disconnection from the company's network, according to the Bloomberg report.

Chevron and Tencent, which has denied its apps pose a national security risk, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The United States has launched a series of measures in recent months cracking down on Chinese tech firms and apps, as the world's two largest economies butt heads on issues ranging from trade and technology to the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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(Published 23 September 2020, 15:31 IST)