The new rule follows a series of steps taken by US state governments to ban TikTok.
Washington:
Popular Chinese video app TikTok has been banned from all US House of Representatives-managed devices, according to the administration branch of the House, mimicking a law soon to ban the app from US government devices.
In a message sent to all MPs and staff on Tuesday, the House Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) said the app is considered “high risk due to multiple security issues”, and should be removed from all devices managed by the House.
The new rule follows a series of steps taken by US state governments to ban TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd, from government equipment. As of last week, 19 states have at least partially blocked the app from state-managed devices over concerns that the Chinese government could use the app to track Americans and censor content.
The $1.66 trillion omnibus spending bill passed last week to fund the US government until September 30, 2023, includes a provision to ban the app on federally managed devices, and will take effect after President Joe Biden signs it into law.
“With the passage of the omnibus banning TikTok on executive branch devices, the CAO is working with a committee on House administration to implement a similar policy for the House,” a spokesperson for the chief administration official told Reuters on Tuesday. Did.”
The message to employees states that anyone wanting to remove TikTok will be contacted and future downloads of the app will be prohibited.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the new rule.
US lawmakers have proposed implementing a nationwide ban on the app.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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