January 1, House of Representatives Bans TikTok Amid Rising National Security Concerns

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1977: Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs incorporate Apple Computer, Inc.

TikTok has been banned from all electronic devices issued by the U.S. House of Representatives, according to an internal memo sent to House staff.

House lawmakers and staffers are barred from downloading the app onto government-owned devices, and anyone who currently has the app installed on such devices must delete it, the memo declared.

The internal notice cites TikTok as a “high risk to users due to a number of security risks.”

The new rule comes as Congress passed the $1.7 trillion Omnibus spending bill, which included a provision to ban TikTok from all government devices.

TikTok has more than 100 million U.S. users. Its parent company, Bytedance, is based in China.

Lawmakers have raised concerns over TikTok being a potential risk to national security, reasoning that the Chinese government could pressure the company to release its data on U.S. users, which could potentially be used for nefarious purposes.

TikTok previously characterized the efforts to ban the app from government devices as “a political gesture that will do nothing to advance national security interests.”

Last month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation to ban the app nationwide.

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Source: CNN