Congress Considers Banning TikTok from US Government Devices

Due to a government spending measure that Congress revealed on Tuesday, TikTok would be banned from most U.S. government devices. This is the latest effort by American lawmakers against the Chinese-owned social media app.

The $1.7 trillion package contains demands for the Biden administration to forbid using TikTok or any other software developed by its owner, ByteDance Ltd., in the majority of cases. The regulations appear to only apply to the executive branch, as only a few politicians in Congress have TikTok accounts, with exceptions for national security, law enforcement, and research needs.

Two-thirds of American teenagers use TikTok, making it the second most popular website in the globe. However, there has long been a consensus among both political parties in Washington that Beijing would attempt to steal American user data or promote false material by using its legal and regulatory authority.

The restriction is "a political gesture that will do nothing to serve national security goals," according to Brooke Oberwetter, a TikTok spokesman. As part of the continuing examination of national security being conducted by President Joe Biden's administration, TikTok is creating security and data privacy strategies.

We will continue to advise Congress on these plans, Oberwetter said in a statement, "plans that we are well underway in implementing — plans that have been designed under the purview of our country's top national security agencies — to further safeguard our platform in the United States.