Federal judge temporarily halts Trump administration ban on downloads of Chinese app WeChat

A federal judge put a temporary stop to an order from the Trump administration that would have removed the Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat from application stores. U.S. District Court Judge Laurel Beeler granted a preliminary injunction late Saturday to the “U.S. WeChat Users Alliance,” a group that sued after the Commerce Department presented new rules that would prevent the app from appearing on U.S. app stores after midnight on Sunday . The California judge determined it would harm the plaintiff’s First Amendment rights. “The court grants the motion on the ground that the plaintiffs have shown serious questions going to…