The White House on Monday gave government agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have Chinese-owned app TikTok on federal devices and systems.
In a bid to keep US data safe, all federal agencies must eliminate TikTok from phones and systems and prohibit Internet traffic from reaching the company, US Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young told agencies in a guidance memorandum seen by Reuters.
The ban, ordered by the US Congress late last year, follows similar actions from Taiwan, Canada, the EU and more than half of US states. The device ban — while affecting a tiny portion of TikTok’s US user base — adds fuel to calls for an outright ban on the video-sharing app.
Photo: AFP
National security concerns about China surged in the past few weeks after a Chinese balloon drifted over the US.
ByteDance-owned TikTok has said the concerns are fueled by misinformation and has denied using the app to spy on Americans. The action does not affect the more than 100 million Americans who use TikTok on private or company-owned devices.
TikTok did not immediately comment on the White House memo.
Congress in December last year voted to bar federal employees from using the Chinese-owned video app on government-owned devices, and gave US President Joe Biden’s administration 60 days to issue agency directives.
The vote was the latest action by US lawmakers to crack down on Chinese companies amid national security fears that Beijing could use them to spy on Americans.
US Federal Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha said “this guidance is part of the Administration’s ongoing commitment to securing our digital infrastructure and protecting the American people’s security and privacy.”
Many US government agencies, including the White House, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of State had banned TikTok from government devices before the vote.
The TikTok ban does not apply if there are national security, law enforcement or security research activities, but agency leadership must approve these activities, Young’s memo said, adding that “blanket exceptions applying to an entire agency are not permitted.”
The US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs was yesterday set to vote on a bill that would give Biden the authority to ban TikTok from all US devices.
“My bill empowers the administration to ban TikTok or any software applications that threaten US national security,” said US Representative Mike McCaul, the committee chair. “Anyone with TikTok downloaded on their device has given the [Chinese Communist Party] a backdoor to all their personal information. It’s a spy balloon into your their phone.”
The American Civil Liberties Union said it opposed a congressional ban on TikTok.
The White House memo said that within 90 days, agencies must address any use of TikTok by IT vendors through contracts, and within 120 days agencies would include a new prohibition on TikTok in all new solicitations.
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