TikTok has been banned from all devices owned and managed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
According to an internal memo obtained by NBC News, the U.S. House of Representatives has ordered its staff to delete TikTok from any House-issued mobile devices and forbidden them to download the app in the future.
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Chief Administrative Officer has issued a cyber advisory on TikTok, labeling it “high-risk” with personal info accessed from inside China: “we do not recommend the download or use of this application due to these security and privacy concerns.” pic.twitter.com/F87qwFiHhR — Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) August 17, 2022
The order to delete the app was issued by the chief administrative officer (CAO) of the House, Catherine Szpindor.
In the memo, Szpindor says the ban comes after her office’s cybersecurity unit found TikTok to be a “high risk to users due to a number of security risks.”
“House staff are not allowed to download the TikTok app on any House mobile devices,” the memo reads. “If you have the TikTok app on your House mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it.”
In a statement, the U.S. house of representatives confirmed the ban: “We can confirm that the Committee on House Administration has authorized the CAO Office of Cybersecurity to initiate the removal of TikTok Social Media Service from all House-managed devices.”
The move by the U.S. House of Representatives mimics a law that will soon prohibit the Chinese-owned app from all government devices.
Congress is set to pass a bill this week that bars federal employees from using TikTok on government-issued devices amid national security fears given the app’s ties to China.
The video-sharing platform app also faces a complete potential ban in the U.S.
Earlier this month, members of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate introduced a new bipartisan bill that aims to completely ban TikTok from operating in the country altogether amid spying concerns.
TikTok was under intense scrutiny again yesterday after its parent company, ByteDance admitted that it used the app to spy on American reporters to track down their sources.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
US House of Representatives Bans TikTok on Official Devices
