The Chinese-owned app TikTok must not be present on any federally-owned hardware or software, according to a directive from the White House issued on Monday.
In a guidance memo seen by British news agency Reuters, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young instructed agencies to remove TikTok from phones and systems and forbid internet traffic from going to the business in order to protect US data.
The ban was enacted by Congress late last year after identical measures were taken by Taiwan, Canada, the EU, and more than half of the states in the United States.
Even though it only affects a small part of TikTok’s US user base, the device ban strengthens arguments for outright banning the video-sharing app. Concerns about China’s national security have increased recently after a Chinese balloon was seen in US airspace.
TikTok, which is controlled by ByteDance, claims that wrong information has strengthened worries and that it is not being used to spy on Americans. The over 100 million Americans who use TikTok on personal or business-owned devices are unaffected by the move. Regarding the White House memo, TikTok did not quickly respond.
The Biden administration was given 60 days to issue agency instructions after Congress voted in December to prohibit federal workers from using the Chinese-owned video app on devices that belong to the government. The decision was the most recent move by American legislators to take action against Chinese firms because of concerns about Beijing using them to spy on Americans.
TikTok was prohibited on government-owned devices by a number of government organizations, including the White House, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department.
The agency leadership must approve these activities, according to Young’s letter, and “blanket exceptions applying to an entire agency are not permitted.” The TikTok ban does not apply if there are national security, law enforcement, or security research activities.
A measure that would grant US President Joe Biden the power to block TikTok from all U.S. devices is scheduled for a decision by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
Representative Mike McCaul, the committee chair, said, “my bill empowers the administration to ban TikTok or any software applications that threaten US national security. 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 phone.”
A congressional ban on TikTok was reportedly challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union.
In accordance with the White House memo, agencies have 90 days to handle any TikTok usage by IT vendors through contracts, and 120 days to include a new TikTok ban in all future solicitations.
As part of its ongoing dispute with China, Canada earlier on Monday announced a ban on TikTok from government-issued devices, claiming it poses an “unacceptable” degree of risk to security and privacy.
According to a TikTok spokesperson, the Canadian ban was implemented “without citing any particular security worry or contacting us with questions.”
Last week, TikTok was prohibited from staff phones by the two largest policy-making bodies in the European Union due to security concerns.
