TikTok banned from all House of Representatives devices
Christopher Hutton
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The House of Representatives took a significant step toward removing TikTok from federal devices, the latest effort by the government to restrict the China-operated app.
Aides at the House of Representatives were informed on Monday that they had to remove the TikTok app from any House mobile devices and were banned from reinstalling it. This ban arrived days after a ban on installing TikTok onto government devices was implemented by Congress.
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“The Office of Cybersecurity has deemed the TikTok mobile application to be a high risk to users due to a number of security risks,” the Committee on House Administration said in an email on Monday.
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TikTok has been under heavy scrutiny from lawmakers since 2020 due to its parent company’s connections to the Chinese Communist Party. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) introduced a bill last week that would ban TikTok in the United States. The Biden administration is attempting to find a compromise as it works with TikTok to address security issues. These compromises include TikTok having its code and algorithm reviewed by “transparency centers” and operating a “proxy board” in the United States. The company is still in negotiations, and it remains unclear when this compromise may pass.
TikTok’s parent company admitted to its employees spying on U.S. journalists. Those employees were then fired.