— China blasts US ‘unreasonable’ crackdown after TikTok ban
WASHINGTON: The White House on Monday gave government agencies in the United States 30 days to ensure they do not have Chinese-owned app TikTok on federal devices and systems.
In a bid to keep US data safe, all federal agencies must eliminate TikTok from phones and systems and prohibit internet traffic from reaching the company, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young told agencies in a guidance memorandum seen by Reuters.
The ban, ordered by Congress late last year, follows similar actions from Canada, the EU, Taiwan and more than half of US states.
The device ban — while impacting a tiny portion of TikTok’s US user base — adds fuel to calls for an outright ban on the video-sharing app. National security concerns about China surged in recent weeks after a Chinese balloon drifted over the US.
ByteDance-owned TikTok has said the concerns are fueled by misinformation and has denied using the app to spy on Americans.
The action does not affect the more than 100 million Americans who use TikTok on private or company-owned devices. TikTok did not immediately comment on the White House memo.
Congress in December voted to bar federal employees from using the Chinese-owned video app on government-owned devices and gave the Biden administration 60 days to issue agency directives. The vote was the latest action by US lawmakers to crack down on Chinese companies amid national security fears that Beijing could use them to spy on Americans.
Federal Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha said “this guidance is part of the Administration’s ongoing commitment to securing our digital infrastructure and protecting the American people’s security and privacy.”
Many government agencies including the White House, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department had banned TikTok from government devices before the vote.
The TikTok ban does not apply if there are national security, law enforcement or security research activities but agency leadership must approve these activities, Young’s memo said and “blanket exceptions applying to an entire agency are not permitted.”
Commenting on the US government’s recent ban on a Chinese firm’s short video-sharing app TikTok, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday slammed Washington for its abuse of state power in unreasonably cracking down on businesses from other countries, suggesting the US’ lack of confidence against a mobile app.
Following a series of moves against TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance, the White House on Monday asked US government agencies to get rid of the app from official devices and systems within 30 days, according to Reuters.
The move follows a ban ordered by the US Congress, which cited national security concerns, in December 2022. US lawmakers are also set to vote this week on a bill that would give US President Joe Biden the authorities to ban the app from all US devices, Reuters reported.
Asked about the US ban on TikTok at a press briefing in Beijing, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that as the world’s No.1 power, the US is actually so afraid of a mobile app that young people like, and that is rather too unconfident.
“We firmly oppose the US’ wrong practice of generalizing the concept of national security and abusing state power to unreasonably suppress companies from other countries,” Mao said, urging the US to respect fair competition principles and stop crackdowns on relevant companies.
ByteDance did not comment on the bans as of press time on Tuesday, but its subsidiary, TikTok, said that so-called national security concerns raised by US and other officials are fueled by misinformation. TikTok stressed its efforts to protect user data and privacy.
The US move on Monday comes as Canada and the EU imposed similar bans. Canada on Monday issued a ban on TikTop on government-issued devices, with Prime Minister Justine Trudeau suggesting moves could be taken. Last week, the EU’s two biggest policymaking bodies also banned the app on staff phones.
Notably, despite their repeated citing of security concerns as the reason for the bans, Western officials have not made public any instances of security breaches involving TikTok. The company, which has been trying to convince US and European officials that concerns over its security issues are misplaced, noted that such bans are “misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions.”
The bans sparked some criticism and opposition within the West. Following the US’ move on Monday and ahead of the US House of Representatives’ vote on a bill to ban TikTok on all US devices, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the largest public-interest law firms in the US, said it firmly opposes the bill.
“Congress must not censor entire platforms and strip Americans of their constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression. Whether we’re discussing the news of the day, livestreaming protests, or even watching cat videos, we have a right to use TikTok and other platforms to exchange our thoughts, ideas, and opinions with people around the country and around the world,” said Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at ACLU.
The ACLU noted, citing a US law, that the US government “can’t ban a social media platform simply because the app is from a Chinese company.”
There are growing concerns among US businesses, especially small businesses, which rely on TikTok to promote their products and services. Despite the politically motivated moves, it might be too difficult to ban the app entirely, analysts noted. The US’ increasingly reckless hostility against China has and will continue to hurt its own interests, analysts added.
Although the US has been talking up a ban on TikTok and even trying to force the sale of TikTok to a US business, TikTok was the most popular mobile app in the US in 2022, with 99 million downloads, according to Statista. In the EU, 125 million people come to TikTok every month, according to the company.
The move against TikTok comes as the US, along with some of its allies, are stepping up the crackdown on Chinese firms, amid their politically motivated containment strategy against China, analysts said.
