TikTok and WeChat bans could come back to haunt U.S. companies, experts warn

SectionsTVFeaturedMore from NBC Follow NBC News The Trump administration's decision to ban TikTok and WeChat could set a dangerous precedent that adversely affects U.S. tech companies and accelerates the balkanization of the internet, tech executives, public policy officials and other experts warn.The bans, which would effectively eliminate WeChat's presence in the U.S. at midnight on Sunday and do the same to TikTok after Nov. 12, mark a rare instance in which the executive branch is dictating what messaging and social media apps are available to American consumers.The bans, announced by the Department of Commerce on Friday, come after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in August that started the U.S. on a path of forcing companies to stop doing business with WeChat and TikTok. Trump and the Department of Commerce have said the apps are national security threats.In the short term, the bans could benefit TikTok competitors like Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, but in the long-term they could embolden other countries to implement similar bans on those companies, experts say."I do believe anytime a nation-state renders judgment on which applications can or cannot run 'in country' ...