US lawmakers early Tuesday included the proposal to bar federal government employees from using the popular video app TikTok on government-owned devices in a key spending bill.
Amid national security fears, the Senate last week voted on a bill sponsored by Republican Senator Josh Hawley to bar federal employees from using the ByteDance-owned app on government-owned devices. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy had also backed the proposal last week.
As per the requirements of the bill, White House Office of Management and Budget has 60 days “to develop standards and guidelines for executive agencies requiring the removal” of TikTok from federal devices.
Many federal agencies, such as the White House and the Defense, Homeland Security and State departments, already ban TikTok from government-owned devices.
Meanwhile, Louisiana and West Virginia became the latest US states on Monday to ban the app on government-managed devices over security concerns and that China could use it to track Americans and censor content. Now, at least 19 of the 50 US states have at least partially blocked the popular video platform on government computers.
Some members of Congress last week proposed a nationwide ban, which would follow countries such as India that have already prohibited its use.
On the other hand, TikTok says the concerns are a result of misinformation. The legislation would not impact the more than 100 million Americans who use TikTok on private or company-owned devices.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump had tried to block new users from downloading TikTok, effectively blocking the app’s use in the United States, but he lost a series of court battles.
(With inputs from agencies)
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