On Wednesday, the US Senate voted to ban the highly popular TikTok video-sharing app from all government-issued phones and other devices as the Biden administration levies restrictions on the video sharing platform owned by China based Bytedance.
The step, which was approved unanimously, would have to be passed by the US House before Congress leaves for the year.
Sponsored by Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, the bill punctuates fears that TikTok and its parent, ByteDance Ltd., could share information on US users with Chinese authorities. In the last Congress for this year, the Senate also passed the ban.
In a statement, Hawley said, “TikTok is a Trojan Horse for the Chinese Communist Party. It’s a major security risk to the United States, and until it is forced to sever ties with China completely, it has no place on government devices.”
According to the text of the bill, under certain circumstances, the legislation includes exceptions for “law enforcement activities, national security interests and activities, and security researchers.”
