The Chinese short-video app TikTok has been blocked from all US federal government devices due to "high risk" security concerns. The one exception is that law enforcement and national security organisations may, under exceptional circumstances, utilise the app for security research.
The judgement effectively implies that TikTok will have to be removed from the mobile smartphones and other devices supplied to the almost four million government employees. A clause in Biden's newly approved $1.7 trillion budget measure forbids the ByteDance-owned app.
"We're disappointed that Congress has moved to ban TikTok on government devices — a political gesture that will do nothing to advance national security interests — rather than encouraging the Administration to wrap up its national security review," Brooke Oberwetter, a senior policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, said.
Notably, the decision was made while a number of jurisdictions around the US released their own regulations outlawing the app. Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, started the process last month by signing an executive order that forbade the use of the app.
Noem declared in a statement published on Twitter that "South Dakota will take no involvement in the information collection operations of nations which despise us."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) previously issued a caution regarding data leaks via the app. Director Christopher Wray stated to a House subcommittee that there is "serious worry" about the possibility that the Chinese government may acquire user data or software through the app.
ByteDance incorporates particular APIs into the software, according to Wray, giving Beijing access to "manage data gathering from millions of users or influence the recommendation system." Donald Trump, a former president, launched the campaign to ban the Chinese app. But once in office, Biden reversed Trump's executive orders that tried to outlaw downloading.Following that, North Dakota, Alabama, Utah, Maryland, and Texas did the same.
All legislators and staff members using mobile devices provided by the House have been instructed to delete TikTok by Szpindor, according to a document obtained by NBC News.
According to the message, "House workers are NOT authorised to download the TikTok app on any House mobile devices," according to NBC. "You will be asked to request removal of the TikTok app if it is present on your House mobile device." Reuters also covered the action.
"We can confirm that the Committee on House Administration has authorised the CAO Office of Cybersecurity to commence the removal of TikTok Social Media Service from all House-managed devices," the US House of Representatives said in a statement confirming the ban.
TikTok was classified as a high-risk app in a "cyber alert" released by the CAO in August because of its "lack of openness in how it safeguards user data." According to the article, TikTok, which is controlled by ByteDance in Beijing, "actively gathers material for identifying data" and retains certain user information in China. According to TikTok, its data is stored in the US and Singapore rather than China.
The CAO's action follows many attempts to limit the usage of TikTok by state and federal workers.
A clause prohibiting TikTok from being used on government devices was included in the $1.7 trillion budget plan enacted by Congress last week. Once President Joe Biden signs the bill into law, the prohibition will go into force. At least 19 US states have partially barred the software on state-managed devices, according to Reuters, due to security concerns. After the Congress's prohibition, TikTok issued a statement calling it a "political gesture that will not benefit national security goals."
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