A senate bill is said to be in the consideration stage to ban the use of the video-sharing app, TikTok on digital devices owned by the U.S government.
On Wednesday December 15th, 2022, the U.S senate through a voice vote bill aimed at banning federal employees from using the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, TikTok from being used on gadgets owned by the U.S government.
Before being brought to the president of the United States, President Joe Biden for approval, the bill still must be ratified by the US House of Representatives. Before the current congressional session ends, which is anticipated to happen next week, the House of Representatives would need to pass the Senate bill.
The decision is the most recent move by US senators to take action against Chinese firms because of concerns raised about Beijing using them to spy on Americans.
The Senate’s decision comes after North Dakota and Iowa this week joined an increasing number of states in barring ByteDance’s TikTok on state-owned devices out of anxiety that data would be given to the Chinese government.
In August 2020, legislation to prevent TikTok from being used on government equipment was unanimously enacted by the Senate during the previous Congress. However, Senator Josh Hawley of the Republican Party, the bill’s sponsor, revived it in 2021.
According to Josh Hawley, the digital mobile app, TikTok which has become a powerful tool for business owners, content creators and advertising agencies is a major security disadvantage to the U.S government, hence the need for it to be barred from being used on government-owned gadgets.
“TikTok is a major security risk to the United States, and it has no place on government devices,” he said in a previous statement.
Governors of North Dakota and Iowa have issued orders forbidding executive branch agencies from installing the app on any technology provided by the government. Twelve US states, including Alabama and Utah this week, have made similar moves.
However, TikTok in reaction to the concerns and the intended purpose for the app to be barred on government-owned devices in the U.S stated that the action is based on unfounded falsehoods and it is disappointed in how many states have thrown their weights behind the intended action.
“We’re disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States,” TikTok said.
The company also said that it is willing to meet the policymakers to elaborate the company’s practices since their concerns are largely influenced by misinformation.
In response to US concerns that the app could be used to spy on Americans and censor material, Republican Senator Marco Rubio on Tuesday unveiled bipartisan legislation to outright ban TikTok in the country. This increased pressure on ByteDance.
Additionally, Rubio is a supporter of Hawley’s measure banning TikTok from government use. According to Rubio’s office, the proposal would prohibit any transactions from social media companies based in or controlled by China and Russia.
FBI Director Chris Wray stated during a hearing last month that US operations of TikTok pose a threat to national security.
Donald Trump, who was president at the time, tried to stop new users from downloading TikTok in 2020 and to outlaw other transactions that would have virtually stopped the usage of the applications in the United States, but he was unable in doing so after losing several court cases.
Due to concerns that US user data would be given to the Chinese government, the government’s committee on foreign investment in the United States, a significant national security body, in 2020 ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok, however, ByteDance has not done so.
In order to secure the data of TikTok’s more than 100 million users, CFIUS and TikTok have been in negotiations for months. However, it doesn’t look like a solution will be struck before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the senate bill awaits the approval of President Joe Biden in order to be enacted to ban TikTok from being used on State-owned gadgets.
Source; www.Ghgossip.com
