Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: Chinese video app TikTok has been banned from all US House of Representatives-managed devices. The law soon to go into effect banning the app from all US government devices.
US House Chief Administrative
The app is considered “high risk due to several security problems,” the House’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) said in a message sent to all lawmakers and other staff on Tuesday. The CAO said that the app must be deleted from all devices managed by the House.
A new rule follows a series of moves by the US state governments to ban TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd.
As of the last week, 19 US states have blocked the app over concerns that the Chinese government allegedly uses the app to track Americans.
The $1.66 trillion omnibus spending bill, passed the previous week to aid the U.S. government through to Sept. 30, 2023, includes a provision to ban TikTok on federally managed devices and could take effect once President Joe Biden signs the legislation into law.
A spokesperson for the Chief Administrative Officer said that with the passage of the Omnibus that banned the app TikTok on executive branch devices, a CAO worked with the Committee on House Administration to implement similar policies for the House.
A message to the staff said that anyone with TikTok on their device would be contacted about removing it, and future downloads of the app were prohibited.
U.S. officials and lawmakers have put forward a proposal to implement a nationwide ban on an app.
