White House takes action to block TikTok on government devices

It's already banned on some smartphones. amid concerns about data protection.

According to the House's administration arm, the popular Chinese video app TikTok has been banned from all U.S. House of Representatives-managed devices, in a move that mirrors the upcoming ban on the app from all U.S. government devices.

On Tuesday, the House's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) informed all lawmakers and staff that the TikTok app is considered "high risk" due to multiple security issues and must be removed from all devices managed by the House. This decision follows actions taken by several U.S. states to ban TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd, from government devices due to concerns that the Chinese government may use the app to track Americans and censor content.

As of last week, 19 states had partially blocked the app from state-managed devices. The recently passed $1.66 trillion omnibus spending bill includes a provision to ban the app on federally managed devices, which will go into effect once President Joe Biden signs the legislation into law.

A message has been sent to all staff indicating that anyone currently using TikTok on their device will be contacted and instructed to remove the app. It has also been made clear that downloading TikTok is now prohibited.

TikTok has not yet provided a response to this new rule. In the meantime, a proposal to ban the app nationwide in the US has been put forward by lawmakers.