TikTok banned on House government devices

Dec. 28 (UPI) -- TikTok has been banned by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on House Administration, meaning that lawmakers and staffers will no longer be able to use the popular app on their government-issued devices.

A memo sent Tuesday by Catherine L. Szpindor, the chief administrative officer of the House, said that her office's cybersecurity unit had found TikTok to be a "high risk to users due to a number of security risks."

"House staff are NOT allowed to download the TikTok app on any House mobile devices," the memo said. "If you have the TikTok app on your House mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it."

The move comes as TikTok faces increasing scrutiny for its links to the Chinese government. Its parent company ByteDance is Chinese, which means that the Chinese government could force the company to share the data it collects on its users, U.S. officials have said.

The Senate earlier in December approved a measure that would ban all federal employees from downloading or using the app on government devices.

Several states, including Texas, Georgia, Maryland, South Dakota, South Carolina and Nebraska, have also banned the app from government devices. The U.S. military has also banned its members from using the app on government devices.

Some members, including Marco Rubio, R-Fla., have called for the app to be completely banned in the U.S.

FBI Director Christopher Wray warned members of Congress after the midterm elections that the Chinese government could use TikTok to control users' devices for influence or espionage purposes.

Michael Beckerman, TikTok's head of public policy for the Americas, has previously claimed the security concerns are overstated, but said that it "makes for good politics." He said TikTok collects less data than other social media apps and is also working to move user data to servers in the U.S. -- out of reach of China.