President Joe Biden is withdrawing a series of executive orders that sought to ban new downloads of WeChat and TikTok and ordering a new Commerce Department review of security concerns posed by those apps, the White House said Wednesday.

The administration of former President Donald Trump had attempted to block new users from downloading the apps and ban other technical transactions that Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat both said would effectively block the apps' use in the United States. The courts blocked those orders that never took effect.

Biden's new executive order revokes the WeChat and TikTok orders, along with another in January that targeted eight other communications and financial technology software applications.

A separate U.S. national security review of TikTok remains ongoing, a White House official said.

First Published:Jun 9, 2021 8:31 PM IST