The White House has given government organizations 30 days to prohibit the use of TikTok on federal systems and devices.
(Reuters, image)
The TikTok app has been forbidden on federal devices by government agencies by a date imposed by the White House.
The Chinese-owned software must not be installed or functioning on any federal networks for the next 30 days, the White House announced on Monday.
In a guidance memorandum, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young informed federal agencies that they must purge TikTok from devices including phones to keep government data safe and stop internet traffic from getting to the company.
Congress ordered the ban in December, after more than half of US states, the European Union, Canada and Taiwan acted to ban TikTok. Lawmakers gave the Biden administration 60 days to issue directives to agencies.
Federal Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha stated that ‘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 ban came amid fears that China could be using companies within its boundaries to spy on Americans.
ByteDance, which owns TikTok, has denied that the app is used to spy on Americans and blamed the allegations on misinformation.
Before the congressional vote, government agencies including the White House, State Department, Department of Defense and the department of Homeland Security had already banned TikTok from government systems.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee is slated to vote on a bill on Tuesday that would give President Joe Biden the authority to ban TikTok from all American devices.
Committee chair Rep Mike McCaul stated: ‘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 their phone.’