All federal agencies in the United States are given 30 days to purge TikTok from all government devices, the White House said Monday, as the Chinese-owned video-snippet sharing app comes under increasing scrutiny in Washington over security concerns.
The Office of Management and Budget calls the guidance a "critical step forward in addressing the risks presented by the app to sensitive government data.” Some agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and State, already have restrictions in place; the guidance calls on the rest of the federal government to follow suit within 30 days.
The White House already does not allow TikTok on its devices.
"The Biden-Harris Administration has invested heavily in defending our nation’s digital infrastructure and curbing foreign adversaries’ access to Americans’ data,” said Chris DeRusha, the federal chief information security officer. "This guidance is part of the administration’s ongoing commitment to securing our digital infrastructure and protecting the American people’s security and privacy.”
The guidance was first reported by Reuters.
U.S. Congress passed the "No TikTok on Government Devices Act” in December as part of a sweeping government funding package. The legislation does allow for TikTok use in certain cases, including for national security, law enforcement and research purposes.
"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. These bans are little more than political theater," TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said Monday.
House Republicans are expected to move forward Tuesday with a bill that would give Biden the power to ban TikTok nationwide. The legislation, proposed by Rep. Mike McCaul, looks to circumvent the challenges the administration would face in court if it moved forward with sanctions against the social media company.
If passed, the proposal would allow the administration to ban not only TikTok but any software applications that threaten national security. McCaul, the chairperson of the House Foreign Relations Committee, has been a vocal critic of the app, saying it is being used by the Chinese Communist Party to "manipulate and monitor its users while it gobbles up Americans’ data to be used for their malign activities.”
"Anyone with TikTok downloaded on their device has given the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) a backdoor to all their personal information. It’s a spy balloon into your phone,” the Texas Republican said in a statement Monday.
Meanwhile, China on Monday slammed the ban and said the U.S. is overstretching the concept of national security, abusing state power to suppress foreign companies.
"We firmly oppose those wrong actions," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning at a regular news briefing on Tuesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said it opposed a congressional ban on TikTok, saying it would violate the free speech rights of millions of Americans.
A TikTok ban would "limit Americans’ political discussion, artistic expression, free exchange of ideas – and even prevent people from posting cute animal videos and memes," the ACLU said in a letter to lawmakers. "Americans have a right to use TikTok and other platforms to exchange our thoughts, ideas, and opinions with people around the country and around the world," it added.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., his counterpart in the Senate, did not shut down the idea of the chamber taking up a proposal that would empower Biden to take action against TikTok, saying it was "certainly something to consider.”
Oberwetter said: "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.”
TikTok, owned by ByteDance Ltd., remains extremely popular and is used by two-thirds of teens in the U.S. But there is increasing concern that Beijing could obtain control of American user data that the app has obtained.
The company has been dismissive of the ban for federal devices and has noted that it is developing security and data privacy plans as part of the Biden administration’s ongoing national security review.
Canada also announced Monday that it is banning TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices, saying it presents an "unacceptable" level of risk to privacy and security, adding to the growing rift between the two countries.
Effective Tuesday, "the TikTok application will be removed from government-issued mobile devices. Users of these devices will also be blocked from downloading the application in the future," the government said in a statement.
The Canadian ban was issued "without citing any specific security concern or contacting us with questions," a TikTok spokesperson said.
Elsewhere, the European Union's two biggest policymaking institutions last week banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.
Lastly, the Danish parliament on Tuesday urged lawmakers and employees with the 179-member assembly against having TikTok on work phones as a cybersecurity measure, saying “there is a risk of espionage.”
Danish parliamentary speaker Soren Gade said that an email had been sent out Tuesday to lawmakers and employees with ”a strong recommendation that you delete the TikTok app if you have previously installed it.”
TikTok has repeatedly rejected accusations it shares data or cedes control to the Chinese government.
TikTok's breakneck rise from a niche video-sharing app to a global social media behemoth has brought plenty of scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.
The company was forced to admit ByteDance employees in China had accessed Americans' data, but it has always denied turning over personal information to the Chinese authorities.
TikTok has moved to soothe U.S. fears, announcing in June 2022 that it would store all data on American users on US-based servers.
Bans have not halted TikTok's growth.
With more than 1 billion active users, it is the sixth-most used social platform in the world, according to the We Are Social marketing agency.
Although it lags behind the likes of Meta's long-dominant trio of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, its growth among young people far outstrips its competitors.
