<p>Chinese social media leader Tencent Holdings Ltd has said its WeChat may not be able to win new users in the United States while the White House challenges a court ruling preventing a ban on the messaging app.</p>.<p>Tencent, in a statement filed at Hong Kong's stock exchange late on Sunday, said it has been evaluating the potential impact of a ban since the US Department of Commerce on Friday issued an order to block WeChat downloads on national security grounds.</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/chinas-tencent-rebrands-wechat-work-app-ahead-of-trump-ban-889350.html" target="_blank">China's Tencent rebrands WeChat work app ahead of Trump ban</a></strong></p>.<p>It also said routine updates of the app for existing US users may be negatively affected should Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google remove WeChat from their stores.</p>.<p>WeChat has a relatively small user base in the United States compared with in China, where the app is ubiquitous.</p>.<p>On Sunday, US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler said a challenge to the proposed ban has "shown serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim" so "the balance of hardships tips in the plaintiffs' favour".</p>.<p>Tencent, which has denied being a security risk, said it has engaged and will continue to engage in discussions with the US government and other stakeholders to resolve the matter. </p>
<p>Chinese social media leader Tencent Holdings Ltd has said its WeChat may not be able to win new users in the United States while the White House challenges a court ruling preventing a ban on the messaging app.</p>.<p>Tencent, in a statement filed at Hong Kong's stock exchange late on Sunday, said it has been evaluating the potential impact of a ban since the US Department of Commerce on Friday issued an order to block WeChat downloads on national security grounds.</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/chinas-tencent-rebrands-wechat-work-app-ahead-of-trump-ban-889350.html" target="_blank">China's Tencent rebrands WeChat work app ahead of Trump ban</a></strong></p>.<p>It also said routine updates of the app for existing US users may be negatively affected should Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google remove WeChat from their stores.</p>.<p>WeChat has a relatively small user base in the United States compared with in China, where the app is ubiquitous.</p>.<p>On Sunday, US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler said a challenge to the proposed ban has "shown serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim" so "the balance of hardships tips in the plaintiffs' favour".</p>.<p>Tencent, which has denied being a security risk, said it has engaged and will continue to engage in discussions with the US government and other stakeholders to resolve the matter. </p>