Popular Chinese video app TikTok has been banned from all U.S. House-managed devices, according to the House Administration, mimicking a soon-to-be-enacted law banning the app from U.S. government devices.
The app is classified as “high risk” because of a number of security issues, the House Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) said in a message sent to all lawmakers and staffers on Tuesday, and must be wiped from all House-managed devices .
The new rule follows a series of banning efforts by US state governments tick tockowned by Beijing-based ByteDance, from government devices. As of last week, 19 states have at least partially blocked the app from state-managed devices over concerns the Chinese government could use the app to track Americans and censor content.
The $1.66 trillion Omnibus Spending Act (ca President Joe Biden signs the law.
“With the passage of the omnibus banning TikTok on Executive Branch devices, the CAO worked with the House Management Committee to implement a similar policy for the House,” a spokesman for the chief administrative officer told Reuters on Tuesday.
The message to staff said anyone with TikTok on their device would be contacted to have it removed, and future downloads of the app would be banned.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new rule.
US lawmakers have put forward a proposal to implement a nationwide ban on the app.
© Thomson Reuters 2022
