TikTok is decidedly not welcome on US government devices. After the decision of several states to ban the application from the terminals of their employees, the House of Representatives has just taken a similar decision. The administrative service of the lower house evokes a security problem linked to the social network, indicates Reuterswhich relays the information.
An application “high risk“
The decision to purely and simply ban the application of professional smartphones was notified to all representatives and staff of the chamber on Tuesday 27 December. TikTok should be removed from devices as the social network is considered “high risk due to a number of security issues“, explains the director of administrative services in his message to employees.
The decision comes at the heart of a heated debate across the Atlantic over the fate of US user data. The application is suspected by the American authorities of exporting part of the information to its parent company ByteDance in China. At the same time, several officials are warning of the risk of hijacking of the content recommendation algorithm by Beijing, a hijacking which could notably lead to interference in the country’s internal politics.
The crisis continues across the Atlantic
In order to prevent any risk to national security, last week, 19 American states decided to block the application on official devices of their administration. The Omnibus finance bill, passed in parliament last week, includes a provision to ban the app on devices run by the federal government. This new rule will come into effect as soon as the document is signed by Joe Biden.
“With the passage of the Omnibus that banned TikTok on executive branch devices, the chief administrative officer worked with the House Administration Committee to implement a similar policy within the House of Representatives. United States“, explained a spokesperson for the lower house quoted by Reuters. TikTok has not yet reacted to this new ban.
Since 2020, TikTok has been negotiating with the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States to find a way out of the crisis. In recent weeks, discussions seem to be bogged down as lawmakers put pressure on the social network.
A bill aimed atblock and ban“The application was filed recently by several Republican senators. A company spokesperson then called the proposed law “politically motivated ban that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States.”
