Due to its Chinese heritage, the popular social network TikTok has long been the subject of US government accusations of spying. Although TikTok was never formally outlawed in the US, the government doesn’t appear to be pleased with the app’s existence. As of right now, the US House of Representatives has decided that TikTok cannot be installed on any government-owned equipment.
The US House of Representatives administration confirmed on Tuesday that TikTok has been blocked from US government devices, as reported by Reuters. This implies that the platform can no longer be installed or used on equipment owned by the government.
TikTok was prohibited, according to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the House. Because the app presents “high risk due to a number of security issues”. Any government devices with the app installed need to have it removed right away. Regular users are unaffected by the ban. But it reopens the debate over whether or not TikTok should be entirely banned from the United States.
The ban on TikTok from the US was first announced by former US President Donald Trump in 2020. But it was never implemented. The Federal Communications Commission recommended that Apple and Google both remove TikTok from their app stores earlier this year. TikTok is a “sophisticated surveillance tool” for the Chinese government, according to a letter from the regulator.
The parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, later confirmed that some of its workers in China have access to information about the app’s American users. These staff members are, however, “subject to a series of robust cybersecurity controls and authorization approval protocols,” according to ByteDance.
