Senator wants TikTok off government-issued devices
U.S. government concerned about TikTok's potential sharing of data with Chinese government
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley is bringing the hammer down on the use of China-owned video app TikTok on government-issued devices. The Republican senator of Missouri says he will introduce legislation to ban all federal employees from using the popular app on their phones, adding to growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over trade and technology transfers.
U.S national security and intelligence agencies have already begun to ban employees from using the app, which has rapidly grown in popularity among teenagers allowing users to create short videos.
Roughly 60 percent of TikTok’s 26.5 million monthly users in the U.S. are between the ages of 16 and 24, the company said last year.
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As Hawley pushes for a ban, there seem to be broader concerns among lawmakers about the collection and sharing of data on U.S. users with the Chinese government. Many lawmakers have raised concerns about China and the threat to free speech and online privacy and security.
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Late last year, the U.S. government launched a national security review of TikTok owner, Beijing ByteDance Technology’s, $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly.