The House gets ahead of new requirements set to launch by mid-February
It’s pretty common to see social media apps come and go as fads, but very rarely does a service have the staying power of TikTok. After initially exploding in the wake of its Musical.ly acquisition, TikTok combined Vine and YouTube to become one of the most popular apps to ever hit smartphones. As a Chinese-owned app, it’s also been a lightning rod for controversy — and not just during the Trump administration. Now, in the aftermath of a spying scandal, the US government is taking a step forward in curtailing the app.
As reported by CNN, Congress has effectively banned TikTok from being installed on any government-owned device. First, the US House of Representatives banned TikTok from installation on gadgets it manages earlier this week, citing a “high risk to users” over potential security risks. It’s a move best considered a preamble for what’s coming next for ByteDance.
Yesterday, President Biden signed a $1.7 billion omnibus spending bill into law, which also included an anti-TikTok stipulation. As Engadget notes, the omnibus will force the Biden administration to set rules regarding the app’s removal from most government devices by mid-February. Despite exceptions for elected officials and congressional staff members, the House’s ban eliminates this carve-out. House members who install TikTok on managed devices will be asked to remove the software.
These moves come just days after ByteDance fired four employees for the unauthorized tracking of two Forbes reporters. Pressure has continued to build for the US government to take action against TikTok and its parent company, though to date, only these Congress-focused moves have made it into law. While legislation has been proposed that would ban TikTok entirely from devices in the US, it’s unclear whether it stands a chance in ever passing the House and Senate.
