TikTok is one step closer to a nationwide ban in the United States.
As reported by Reuters, the United States House of Representatives has voted to ban the popular social media app from government devices. The ban, which was announced on Tuesday, specifically comes from the administration arm of the House.
The House's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) said that the app poses a "high risk due to a number of security issues" and that it must now be deleted from any devices that are managed by the House of Representatives.
The app will soon be banned in the White House
Today's announcement is one of many measures at the federal level to ban the app. A measure already exists in the $1.6 trillion omnibus bill that will ban the app from devices managed by the executive branch. That will go into effect once President Joe Biden signs the bill into law.
A spokesperson for the Chief Administrative Officer confirmed the House ban came after the executive ban seemed likely, saying that "with the passage of the Omnibus that banned TikTok on executive branch devices, the CAO worked with the Committee on House Administration to implement a similar policy for the House."
The federal government is now joining a growing number of state governments that have passed similar bans on TikTok on government-run devices. Momentum continues to grow about a potential nationwide ban of the app.
TikTok has not responded to the new ban, but the company has previously called the bans politically motivated and said that the company continues to take user privacy seriously, despite being owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that could be forced to hand over user data to the Chinese government.
Despite the controversy, TikTok continues to grow in popularity in the United States, outpacing the growth of competing social media apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
