Now that it has reached the federal level, the movement to ban the use of TikTok in a number of state governments and on college campuses has spread to the federal level. The House of Representatives of the United States has mandated that the app be deleted from all devices managed by the House. This includes all devices used by members of the House of Representatives.
Catherine Szpindor is the chief administrative officer (CAO) of the House, and her office had issued a warning in August stating that the software constituted a “high risk to users.” Szpindor’s order to deactivate the app followed a warning that had been issued by her office earlier in the process.
TikTok Banned on House of Representatives Mobile Devices Due to Data Privacy Concerns
According to a document that was received by NBC News, anyone who works in the House of Representatives and possesses a mobile phone that was issued by the House has been asked to uninstall the software TikTok by Szpindor from their device. This instruction was provided in the form of a memo.
According to the report by NBC, the letter specifies that it is banned for staff of the House to download the TikTok app onto any mobile device controlled by the House. If you already have the TikTok app loaded on your House mobile device, you will be asked to delete it in order to comply with a request that will be made to you. Another news organisation, Reuters, also covered the event and reported on it.
The House of Representatives of the United States of America issued a statement that read as follows to confirm the prohibition. “we can confirm that the Committee on House Administration has authorised the CAO Office of Cybersecurity to initiate the removal of TikTok Social Media Service from all House-managed devices,” the statement read. [Further citation is required]
In a “cyber alert” that was distributed in August by the CAO, TikTok was identified as an application that posed a high level of danger. TikTok was criticised for “lack of openness in how it safeguards customer data,” which was one of the reasons given in the recommendation.
According to the report, TikTok “actively harvests content for identifiable data” and stores certain user data in China. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, which has its headquarters in Beijing. TikTok claims that the data is not kept in China but rather in the United States of America and Singapore.
TikTok Banned on US Government Devices Following Congressional Approval
TikTok will no longer be accessible on any computer or mobile device controlled by the government due to a provision recently included in the $1.7 trillion budget plan that Congress just approved. As soon as the measure is signed into law by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, the restriction will instantly go into effect. Reuters reports that at least 19 of the 50 states in the United States have instituted some limitation on the app’s ability to access devices that are managed by the state.
In a statement it published after Congress approved the ban, TikTok referred to the proposal as a “political gesture that would do nothing to help the interests of national security.” TikTok said this because the act would not do anything to assist national security goals.
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TikTok Accused of Spying on Journalists and Targeted by US Government Restrictions
The ByteDance corporate headquarters can be found in Shanghai, China, where visitors may view the company’s distinctive emblem. TikTok has revealed that it has used its app to spy on journalists in an effort to discover and stop leaks. The company did this in an effort to halt leaks.
This month, United States Senator Marco Rubio, a former candidate for the nomination of the Republican Party for president, submitted a measure that, if passed, would make it illegal to use the app TikTok anywhere within the borders of the United States. TikTok is an app that Beijing controls, and Senator Rubio believes that it is past time to “permanently ban” it.
TikTok was the target of a number of executive orders issued by the administration of Donald Trump. One of these orders ordered the firm to sell its operations in the United States. These directives have been rescinded at this time by Vice President Joe Biden. Despite this, the United States Committee on Foreign Investment, which investigates business relationships between corporations based in the United States and companies based in other nations, is currently investigating into the security of TikTok as well.
TikTok is apparently considering putting more of its US firm available for independent operation and audit by third parties, as stated in a report that Reuters did not too long ago publish. The article was released not too long ago.
Comment on the topic has been solicited from both TikTok and the office of the chief administrative officer of the House of Representatives.
Final Words
The Chief Administrative Officer of the House, Catherine L. Szpindor, sent out an email to staff members and parliamentarians alerting them that the usage of the app TikTok is prohibited “from all of the devices managed by the House. In the email, it is stated that the new policy will be implemented “starting immediately.”
This statement comes after Congress included a provision to restrict TikTok from being used on devices owned by the executive branch of government in the omnibus package that was passed last week and contained more than 4,000 pages.
