US lawmakers included in the country’s government spending proposal a tool to prevent US employees from using the Chinese app TikTok on government devices.
The US Senate last week voted on a bill backed by Republican Senator Josh Hawley to block federal employees from using the short video app on government devices.
The ban on the app was included in a sweeping measure aimed at funding US government operations and is expected to be voted on this week. The bill gives the White House Office of Management and Budget 60 days “to develop standards and guidelines for removing” TikTok from federal devices.
The ByteDance-owned app said congressional concerns were largely fueled by misinformation. The law does not affect the more than 100 million Americans who use TikTok on personal or business devices.
Many US federal agencies, including the White House and the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and State, have already banned TikTok from government devices.
About 19 of the 50 US states have at least partially blocked access to the TikTok service on government computers. Most of the restrictions took place in the last two weeks.
Last week, Republican Senator Marco Rubio announced a bill to ban the app. The text would block all transactions from any social media company in China and Russia.
In 2020, then US President Donald Trump tried to impose measures to block the use of the app in the country, but lost a series of court battles.
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