On Tuesday, the House of Representatives announced that it would be removing Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from all official devices if lawmakers and their staff do not delete it themselves by August 15.
While the U.S. government is still working on implementing a potential federal ban of TikTok nationwide due to serious security concerns related to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) control over the app, as well as the obvious degeneracy it is pushing on American children, the federal government has already banned TikTok and any apps owned by its parent company ByteDance on all official government devices.
However, many lawmakers and staffers have reportedly been reluctant to delete the apps from their official devices, so House of Representatives Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor has warned that officials will be taking the matter into their own hands if the apps are not deleted voluntarily by August 15.
“Starting August 15, 2024, the CAO Office of Cybersecurity will initiate the block and removal of all ByteDance products from all House-managed devices and app stores,” Szpindor explained in a memo obtained by The Hill. “ByteDance products will be blocked and removed on House-managed devices, starting with mobile devices. If you have a ByteDance application on your House-managed mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it.”
🚨🇺🇸US HOUSE BANS STAFF FROM USING BYTEDANCE APPS, INCLUDING TIKTOK, ON OFFICIAL DEVICES
The ban, effective Aug. 15, also includes Capcut, Hypic, Lark, and Lemon8. This move comes amid ongoing litigation and bipartisan concerns about cybersecurity risks and ties of Bytedance to… pic.twitter.com/vvCiOaMZou
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 30, 2024
Meanwhile, even though the Biden administration supports the TikTok ban on federal devices, both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have accounts on the app and have used them to campaign. In fact, soon after signing the nationwide TikTok ban — which demands that the app divest from China and be sold to an American company or be banned — the Biden campaign created a TikTok account to try to reach young Americans.
The White House has problems navigating the question on why Biden launched his election campaign on TikTok despite the policy of government devices not being able to use the platform. pic.twitter.com/4qrFUiZZif
— Chester Tam (@islantstudio) February 14, 2024
Harris’ campaign joined TikTok last week as well in an attempt to reach young voters amid her new campaign for the presidency, and has already garnered more than 3.5 million followers with only six videos posted to the platform thus far.
They were just about to sign a ban on TikTok and now they’re using it to pander? 😂
— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) July 25, 2024
“Our job as a campaign is to break through the noise and make sure we’re talking to voters wherever they are — TikTok is one of those landscapes, and we’re leaving no stone unturned,” deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty told People Magazine.
The Harris campaign also took over the BidenHQ TikTok account, changing the name to HarrisHQ while forgetting to remove the videos of Biden adamantly declaring that he would not drop out of the presidential race.
You Literally Can’t Make This Stuff Up
The Kamala Harris Team changed the BidenHQ TikTok account to HarrisHQ and didn’t delete the videos where the account adamantly said Joe Biden will not be dropping out of the race, Biden will be the Democrat Nominee
“Whoever is running the… pic.twitter.com/cl8SAZhJjg
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) July 30, 2024
