Federal organizations have been given 30 days by the White House to remove Tiktok from all devices that were provided by the government.
With few exceptions, all executive Agencies and companies they contract with must remove any applications from TikTok or its parent firm, ByteDance, within 30 days of the warning, according to Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget. Agencies are required to mention in contracts that the short-form video app cannot be utilized on smartphones and to terminate any agreements that do so within 90 days.
The Biden administration’s advice document will enable the executive branch and its contractors to comply with a law that was approved at the end of the previous year ordering federal agencies to stop using TikTok, which is run by the Chinese corporation ByteDance. It represents the most recent attempt to stifle the app amid fresh security worries about its US user data and worries that it might end up in the hands of the Chinese authorities.
The bill passed through Congress in quick order in December and was included in the massive year-end omnibus spending package.
The guidance was initially covered by Reuters.
US authorities have expressed worry that the Chinese government would exert pressure on ByteDance to turn over user data that could be used for misinformation or intelligence purposes. Although there haven’t been any incidents of this type of access yet, independent security experts have stated that it is a possibility, as CNN has previously reported.
A spokesman for TikTok, Brooke Oberwetter, described such a ban as “nothing more than a political spectacle.”
“We hope that when it comes to addressing national security concerns about TikTok beyond government devices, Congress will explore solutions that won’t have the effect of censoring the voices of millions of Americans,” Oberwetter said in a statement. “The ban of TikTok on federal devices passed in December without any deliberation, and unfortunately, that approach has served as a blueprint for other world governments.”
In response to a question following the statement, Mao Ning, the spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, claimed that the US was “generalizing the notion of national security,” “abusing national power,” and “unreasonably restricting firms of other nations.”
The European Commission last week enacted its own ban on the app on official devices, citing cybersecurity concerns, while Canada just stated it will also be blocking the app on government devices starting as soon as Tuesday.
The US House of Representatives previously said it has blocked the app on electronic devices maintained by the chamber, and more than half of all US states have also partially or completely prohibited TikTok on the devices of government personnel.
At a hearing slated for late March by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will be the only witness.
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