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The \u201cFor You Page\u201d is no longer for House members and their staff. TikTok is now banned from being used on devices issued by the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
Catherine Szpindor<\/strong>, the chief administrative officer (CAO) of the House, issued the mandate, explaining the China-based app poses \u201chigh risk to users due to a number of security risks<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n According to a memo sent this week by the Committee on House Administration, effective immediately, \u201cHouse staff are NOT allowed to download the TikTok app on any House mobile devices.\u201d Furthermore, \u201cTikTok is NOT allowed on House mobile devices. If you have the TikTok app on your House mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it.\u201d\u00a0TikTok is owned by ByteDance, which is based in Beijing.<\/a><\/p>\n This content can also be viewed on the site it originates<\/a> from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In August, the CAO issued a \u201ccyber advisory<\/a>\u201d regarding the social media app: \u201cTikTok is a Chinese-owned company, and any use of this platform should be done with that in mind.\u201d The CAO called the app \u201chigh-risk to users due to its lack of transparency in how it protects customer data, its requirement of excessive permissions, and the potential security risks involved with its use.\u201d<\/p>\n TikTok has repeatedly denied any cause for concern.\u00a0\u201cIt is troubling that rather than encouraging the administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok, some members of Congress have decided to push for a politically-motivated ban<\/a> that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States,\u201d a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Similarly,\u00a0Michael Beckerman<\/strong>, TikTok’s head of public policy for the Americas, previously said the security concerns were exaggerated, but that it \u201cmakes for good politics<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Former President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/strong> attempted to ban TikTok from operating in the United States, but was not met with success; in 2021, President\u00a0Joe Biden<\/strong> reversed Trump\u2019s executive order and\u00a0instead called for a government review of foreign-owned apps and for a security risk assessment<\/a>.<\/p>\n This latest ban follows a growing trend of efforts to block the app across the US.\u00a0The Senate passed a bipartisan bill<\/a> earlier this month that proposed banning the social media app from being used on devices issued by federal agencies. In the same vein, Sen.\u00a0Marco Rubio<\/strong> (R-Fla.) introduced another bill that would \u201cblock and prohibit all transactions<\/a>\u201d by TikTok and any other social media apps operating \u201cunder the influence\u201d of China.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nTwitter content<\/h4>\n