something is going on with TikTok in the United States, and not exactly good for the company that created it, ByteDance. Given the suspicions that the security application arouses, the government of the country has approved a norm that prohibits the use and installation of the app on federal government devices, according to The Guardian. This measure, embedded in a spending bill just days before Congress passed it, has already been signed by Joe Biden.
With this measure, uncertainty for TikTok in the United States grows, since in addition to this ban it arouses more and more mistrust and doubts among legislators from all areas, from local to state and federal. From the government, meanwhile, they point out that this ban is due to national security reasons due to its Chinese property, but it leaves many questions unanswered.
The main one is, perhaps, why it has been decided to approve this ban. The answer is simple: because in the United States they fear that the Chinese government could take advantage of TikTok to access these devices and the data of American users. The ban means that, in a couple of months, federal government employees will have to remove TikTok from government-issued devices, unless they are using the app for national security or compliance-related activities. of the laws.
The Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget, as well as other entities, have 60 days to approve standard rules and procedures for all government employees to remove the app from their mobile phones.
Some federal agencies, such as the White House, and the Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security, have already banned TikTok, so there will be no change for their employees. Also, earlier this week, House Chief Administrator Catherine Szpindor had already instructed her staff and her legislators to delete the app from her devices.
But how did they come to this in the United States? Well, after years of security concerns about TikTok. In 2020 Donald Trump already tried unsuccessfully to ban Tiktok. Despite this, several initiatives, both from Democrats and Republicans, focused on regulating and controlling the use of the app, came in 2022 after it was confirmed that several ByteDance employees had accessed information from American TikTok users.
TikTok is already banned on government devices in several states
Concerns for national security have increased, on the other hand, after warnings from the FBI Director Christopher Wray, that the Chinese government could use the app to gain access to the devices of users in the United States. In addition, several states, mainly governed by Republicans, have recently banned the use of Tiktok on devices of their administrations. Among them Texas and Virginia.
Meanwhile, not a few wonder if TikTok will end up banned in the United States, as part of the campaign that the US government is carrying out against Chinese technology companies and against the country’s ability to access semiconductors and other advanced devices and equipment. The truth is that it would be complicated and problematic, because it is likely that if TikTok is banned in the United States, China will take similar measures with American apps and services.
So far there have already been several attempts to ban TikTok from operating in the United States. A Marco Rubio proposal, if approved, would ban all network operations and performance in the United States. But it remains to be seen if it is viable. Trump has already tried to ban more users from downloading it, but his move was blocked in court over concerns about its violation of free speech.
Some civil rights and privacy groups, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Fight for the Future, have already pointed out that while the potential for China to exploit access to TikTok is worrisome, other apps and services, including several in the United States, allow government institutions similar access to data as TikTok offers in China.
In the midst of this controversy, countries like Indonesia have imposed a temporary ban on TikTokand India has totally banned it. It is not the only app with which they have taken this measure in the country, since TikTok is only one of the more than 50 Chinese apps that have been banned in the country. He did so after a fight with China, and also alleging national security reasons. Bans on TikTok were also imposed in other countries, but they have not lasted more than a few months.
