By The Associated Press via
NBC News
WASHINGTON — The White House has ordered federal agencies to remove the TikTok app from all government devices within 30 days, amid growing concerns about security risks posed by the Chinese-owned social network.
The Office of Management and Budget describes these guidelines, published on Monday, as a "decisive step to address the risks that the application presents to the sensitive data of the Administration."
Some agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and State, have already adopted restrictions.
The measure urges the rest of the federal government to follow suit within 30 days.
The White House no longer allows TikTok on its devices.
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“The Biden-Harris Administration has invested heavily in defending our country's digital infrastructure and curbing foreign adversaries' access to Americans' data,” said Chris DeRusha, federal Director of Information Security.
“These guidelines are part of the Administration's ongoing commitment to ensure the security of our digital infrastructure and protect the security and privacy of Americans,” he defended.
The Reuters news agency was the first to publicize this order.
Congress passed the
No TikTok on Government Devices Act
in December as part of a broad government funding package, which only allows use of the app in certain cases.
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“TikTok’s ban on federal devices was passed in December without any deliberation, and unfortunately that approach has served as a model for other governments around the world,” Brooke Oberwetter, a TikTok spokeswoman, reacted Monday. “These bans are little more than theater. politician," he said.
Republicans in the House of Representatives are scheduled to pass a bill on Tuesday that would give President Joe Biden the ability to ban TikTok across the country.
The measure, proposed by Rep. Mike McCaul, seeks to circumvent challenges the administration would face in court if it went ahead with sanctions against the social media company.
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If approved, the proposal would allow the government to ban not only TikTok, but any computer application that threatens national security.
McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, has strongly criticized the app, claiming that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses it to "manipulate and police its users while gobbling up Americans' data for use in their evil activities."
“Anyone who has TikTok downloaded to their device has given the CCP a back door to all of their personal information.
It's a spy balloon inside your cell phone,” the Texas Republican said in a statement Monday.
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Sen. Bob Menendez, D-NJ, his Senate counterpart, did not shut down the idea of the House taking up a proposal empowering Biden to take action against TikTok, saying it is "certainly something to consider."
“We hope that when it comes to addressing national security concerns about TikTok beyond government devices, Congress will explore solutions that do not have the effect of censoring the voices of millions of Americans,” the social network spokesperson said.
Texas and Maryland are some of the states that have already adopted these measures at the state level.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has also indicated his intention to enact a similar state law.
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TikTok, owned by ByteDance Ltd., remains extremely popular and is used by two-thirds of America's teens.
But there are growing concerns that China could access the private data of US users through the app.
The company has been reluctant to have the app banned from federal devices and has said it is developing data privacy and security plans as part of the Biden government's national security review.
Canada also announced Monday that it was banning TikTok on all government devices.
The executive branch of the European Union said last week that it was temporarily stopping the social network on cell phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.
