US Senate Approves Bill to Ban TikTok on Government Devices

JAKARTA - It seems that TikTok will lose a little users, because the United States (US) Senate has passed a Bill (UU) to prohibit government employees from using the application on government-owned devices.

However, to become an official law, the No TikTok on Government Devices Act bill must first be approved by the US House of Representatives (DPR) and President Joe Biden.

The House must pass the Senate bill before the end of the current congressional session, which it claims will happen next week. The bill came into existence when the government was concerned that TikTok's parent, China-based ByteDance could share information collected from US users with the Chinese government.

Last November, FBI Director Chris Wray warned the Chinese government could use TikTok to launch operations that affect or to technically control millions of devices.

The No TikTok on Government Devices Act bill had actually been drafted since August 2020, and it was only at the end of this year that it was passed by the US Senate. The bill's initiator, Republican Senator Josh Hawley, is reintroducing the law in 2021.

Hawley previously stated that TikTok is a major security risk for the US, and has no place on government tools.

In the past two weeks, at least seven states have said they will ban public employees from using the app on government devices, including Alabama, Maryland, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Texas. Nebraska has banned TikTok from state equipment in 2020.

Several US government agencies have independently taken steps to limit the use of TikTok among their employees, namely the US military, Department of State and Department of Homeland Security.

“We are disappointed that so many states are enacting policies based on politically charged false claims about TikTok,” TikTok said, quoted by Reuters, Friday, December 16.

"It's a shame that many state agencies, offices and universities that use TikTok in the state can no longer use it to build community and connect with constituents," he added.

Back in 2020, Former President Donald Trump while in office attempted to block new users from downloading TikTok and banning other transactions which would effectively block use of the app in the US. However, he lost a series of court battles for his actions.

US lawmakers also introduced legislation imposing more sanctions on Huawei and other China-based 5G telcos to restrict them from accessing the US financial system, with the aim of stopping Chinese companies from stealing US citizens' data.