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 U.S. Department of Commerce on Friday issued an
order to block WeChat downloads on national security grounds.
It also said routine updates of the app for existing U.S. users
may be negatively affected should Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's
Google remove WeChat from their stores.
WeChat has a relatively small user base in the United States
compared with in China, where the app is ubiquitous.
On Sunday, U.S. 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' favor".
Tencent, which has denied being a security risk, said it has
engaged and will continue to engage in discussions with the U.S.
government and other stakeholders to resolve the matter.
(Reporting by Pei Li; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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