US Lifts TikTok Ban for Federal Employees

The US has lifted its ban on TikTok for federal employees, allowing government workers to reinstall the app on official devices nearly four years after it was prohibited.

The Justice Department said the restriction is no longer in force following a deal that transferred TikTok's US operations to a joint venture backed by Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX. Oracle will serve as the venture's security partner, while ByteDance retains a 19.9% stake.

Under guidance approved by US President Donald Trump, executive branch agencies may now allow employees to install TikTok on government devices, subject to each agency's policies and security requirements.

The restructuring of TikTok's US business followed years of political and legal scrutiny over national security, data protection and the platform's links to ByteDance.

While the new ownership structure gives majority control to US and international investors, lawmakers continue to demand greater transparency over the agreement and ongoing oversight of the platform's data handling and recommendation algorithm.