White House lifts curbs on TikTok use on US government devices

The Trump administration has lifted restrictions on the use of TikTok on federal government devices, after finding that the popular social media app no longer poses a national security threat following the shift of its US operations to American investors.

In a memo dated Aug 11, the White House Office of Management and Budget rescinded a 2023 directive barring use of the video-sharing service on government equipment over concerns that TikTok’s then Chinese ownership represented a security risk.

The memo follows a written opinion in July from the Justice Department that concluded TikTok no longer qualified as a “covered application” under a law passed in 2022 that had barred its use on federal platforms.

The decision follows the completion in January of a deal to transfer control of the app’s US business from its Chinese parent ByteDance to a consortium of American firms led by Oracle and private equity firm Silver Lake Management.

Orchestrated by President Donald Trump, the deal was designed to spare the app from a US ban under a 2024 law sparked by fears that TikTok and ByteDance could share information on US users with Chinese authorities.

The Justice Department’s opinion said that the current version of TikTok functions independently of ByteDance and is now majority owned by US investors.

Under its new ownership, the app “has revised the content recommendation algorithm and cybersecurity program originally developed by ByteDance to insulate federal government information against the concerning security features that initially motivated the prohibition”.

The TikTok sale followed a year-long tug-of-war over US national security concerns raised by the app’s Chinese connections.

TikTok and the government in Beijing have rejected claims by US policymakers that users’ data could be exploited and that the app could be used by China to push certain narratives or sow disinformation.

Trump has praised TikTok and credited the app with helping him win the 2024 election, and he expressed gratitude to Chinese leader Xi Jinping for helping clear the way for approval of the sale. BLOOMBERG