Featured Stories | National News Desk | News

Congress moves to ban Chinese-owned ‘TikTok’ platform from government devices

Amazon-TikTok ban
(AP Photo/File)

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – A ban on the popular Chinese owned social media platform ‘TikTok’ for U.S. government devices was included in a massive omnibus bill early Tuesday.

The $1.7 trillion package, consisting of a 4,115-page omnibus bill for government spending, included the ‘No TikTok on Government Devices Act’, which includes requirements for the Biden administration to prohibit the use of TikTok and other applications created by Chinese tech company ByteDance Ltd on U.S. government issued devices.

It was initially introduced by Florida Senator Marco Rubio in a bipartisan legislation, along with Senators Josh Hawley, Rick Scott, and Tom Cotton.

“Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget … shall develop standards and guidelines for executive agencies requiring the removal of any covered application from information technology,” the bill stated.

The requirements for the bill would apply to the executive branch, while carving out exemptions for “law enforcement activities, national security interests and activities, and security researchers.”

ByteDance has openly allowed the Chinese Communist Party to have access to the personal data of the platform’s consumers, according to reports.

TikTok is deemed the second-most popular domain in the world, notably consumed by tens of millions of American adolescents and millennials everyday.