The TikTok app has been banned from use on federal devices by government agencies until a date set by the White House.
Government agencies will have 30 days to make sure they do not have the Chinese-owned app installed and running on federal systems, the White House said on Monday.
Shalanda Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, informed federal agencies in a guidance memorandum that they must remove TikTok from devices, including phones, to protect government data and prevent internet traffic from reaching the company.
After more than half of the US states, the European Union, Canada, and Taiwan acted to ban TikTok, Congress issued the ban in December. The Biden administration has been given 60 days by lawmakers to issue directives to agencies.
Office of Management and Budget director informed government agencies of the deadline to purge TikTok in a guidance memorandum (Picture: AP)
Federal Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha stated that 'this guidance is part of the Administration's ongoing commitment to securing our digital infrastructure and protecting the American people's security and privacy'.
The ban came amid fears that China could be using companies within its boundaries to spy on Americans.
ByteDance, which owns TikTok, has denied that the app is used to spy on Americans and blamed the allegations on misinformation.
Before the congressional vote, government agencies including the White House, State Department, Department of Defense and the department of Homeland Security had already banned TikTok from government systems.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee is slated to vote on a bill on Tuesday that would give President Joe Biden the authority to ban TikTok from all American devices.
Committee chair Rep Mike McCaul stated: 'My bill empowers the administration to ban TikTok or any software applications that threaten US national security.
'Anyone with TikTok downloaded on their device has given the (Chinese Communist Party) a backdoor to all their personal information.
'It's a spy balloon into your their phone.'
No comments:
Post a Comment