China-owned TikTok has taken the world by storm, but not everyone admires the app.
U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) this week introduced legislation banning all federal employees from using TikTok on government devices.
Due, they said, to cybersecurity concerns and possible spying by the Chinese government.
“TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that includes Chinese Community Party members on its board, and it is required by law to share user data with Beijing,” according to Hawley.
“The company even admitted it collects user data while their app is running in the background,” including shared messages and pictures, keystrokes, and location data, he said in a statement.
If passed, the bill would prohibit certain individuals from downloading or using TikTok on any device issued by the United States or a government corporation.
(Investigations, cybersecurity research activities, enforcement and disciplinary actions, or intelligence activities are exempt.)
“The use of apps like TikTok by federal employees on government devices is a risk to our networks and a threat to our national security,” Scott said.
“We should all be very concerned about the threat of Communist China,” he continued, “and I hope my colleagues will join me to implement this ban immediately and protect our national security.”
The Transportation Security Administration reportedly forbid employees from using TikTok to create social media posts.
Citing “concerns for the security of a federal agency” and “potentially the flying public,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) last month called out the TSA for still operating the social network.
Schumer previously flagged TikTok’s security risks—namely its collection and handling of user data—in an October letter to the intelligence community. The Department of Defence, State Department, and Department of Homeland Security responded by barring the app from government devices.
“As many of our federal agencies have already recognized,” Hawley pointed out, “TikTok is a major security risk to the United States, and it has no place on government devices.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More on Geek.com:
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