TikTok is banned from official devices by the US House
According to an internal notice distributed to House workers, TikTok is no longer permitted on electronic devices under the control of the US House of Representatives.Users will be
prompted to uninstall the short-form video app on any House mobile device after receiving the notice, which the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer gave CNN.TikTok is
described in the warning as being a "high risk to users due to a number of security vulnerabilities."Separately, as part of the $1.7 trillion omnibus package that is pending
President Joe Biden's approval, TikTok is shortly anticipated to be banned from all governmental devices. The action follows the recent implementation of similar restrictions
against TikTok on government-owned devices by more than a dozen states.Ban attempts against the app have been described by TikTok as "a political gesture that will not advance
national security interests." A request for comment on the House limits received no immediate response from the company.TikTok has been mentioned as a possible national security
risk by US policymakers, who claim that the Chinese government could exert pressure on TikTok or its parent company, ByteDance, to turn over the personal data of its US users,
which could then be used for Chinese intelligence operations or the dissemination of disinformation backed by the Chinese government.Although the business last week announced that
it terminated four employees who inappropriately accessed the TikTok user data of two journalists on the platform, there is no proof that this has actually happened.
Since 2020, TikTok has been in talks with the US government about a potential agreement to allay the national security worries and let US users continue to use the app.