US government bans TikTok on these devices – Times of India

After months of yes and no, the US Senate late has passed by voice vote a bill against Chinese short video platform TikTok. The bill bans US government employees from using the TikTok app on government-owned devices. The bill to become a law needs to be approved by the US House of Representatives before it heads to President Joe Biden for approval. Also, the House of Representatives would need to pass the Senate bill before the current congressional session ends, which is likely next week. TikTok is one of the most-popular apps in the US, it boasts of 80 million active monthly users in the US.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump attempted to block new users from downloading TikTok and ban other transactions that would have effectively blocked the apps’ use in the United States. He, however, lost a series of court battles over the measure.

Algorithm is the “problem”
Recently, the head of the FBI Christopher Wray called the Bytedance-owned app a potential threat to the US national security. He made the comments while attending an event at the University of Michigan‘s Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy.
The critical issue with TikTok, Wray said, is its recommendations algorithm, which could be used by Chinese authorities to “manipulate content, and if they want to, to use it for influence operations.” He further added that the Communist Party could also collect user data for more traditional espionage operations.
Several US states have in the past few months banned it from government devices. North Dakota and Iowa are the latest to join the list.
What did TikTok say
TikTok termed the move politically motivated. “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,” the company said in a statement.
Also watch: