One of the U.S.-based oil companies Chevron Corp., has recently released a new memo with its employees. In relation to the recent Trump ban of Chinese apps in the country, the company now forced its employees to remove the WeChat app on their phones. Failure to do will face the consequences.
Chevron employees were given until Sept. 27 to delete the WeChat app
A sign is posted in front of a Chevron gas station on July 31, 2020 in Novato, California. Chevron Corp reported a $8.27 billion loss in second quarter earnings compared to $4.3 billion in revenues one year ago.
If you work for Chevron oil company in the United States, you will soon be prohibited from downloading the China-based app WeChat on your phones.
According to the recent company announcement, all employees working for the corporation need to follow this memo-- or else they'll be disconnected from the company's network, as first reported via Bloomberg.
This was the first company to fully require all employees to uninstall the app, following the recent Trump ban on a few Chinese apps.
"Due to a recent Executive Order banning the use of WeChat, Chevron is requiring that you remove the application from your mobile device," said the memo, which also identifies the operating system and model of each employee's phone. "If no action is taken, prior to September 27, 2020, your access to the Chevron system will be removed."
The company did not clarify the intention of the memo or how it helps the company holistically. However, it could be cited that U.S. President Donald Trump had frequently spoken negatively on the apps over 'national security issues,' therefore making companies wary about their customer data once they use the said app.
WeChat nor Chevron have not yet commented or gave any additional details about the newly-implemented WeChat ban.
Why was WeChat banned from the U.S.?
In this photo illustration, the WeChat app is displayed in the App Store on an Apple iPhone on August 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that bans any transactions between the parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, and U.S. citizens due to national security reasons. The president signed a separate executive order banning transactions with China-based tech company Tencent, which owns the app WeChat. Both orders are set to take effect in 45 days.
On Sept. 18, Tech Times reported the U.S. government announcing WeChat and TikTok ban found on American online app stores.
It was first suggested that the implementation will begin two days from that day. However, after a court judge called this action as a violation of free-speech rights, the schedule was delayed.
Michael Bien, an attorney for the U.S. WeChat Users Alliance, said the U.S. "has never shut down a major platform for communications, not even during war times."
The retrial of this hearing is expected to be announced soon.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Jamie Pancho
