US: White House to ban TikTok amid national security risks

United States: The White House on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, stated that the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok is regarded as a potential national security risk. The statement came from the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who responded to whether the President of the US, Joe Biden, believes TikTok is a threat to national security.

PS Pierre said that the US has concerns about the app, which is why the government has called on Congress to act, including how China is trying to collect Americans’ privacy in a way that can present national security risks.

The statement came after the White House gave federal agencies around 30 days to remove TikTok from all the government-issued devices this Monday. She added that the government has laid out the President’s Unity Agenda, what he is looking to do, and the actions he wants to take from the executive branch, and so the government will continue to call that out.

Earlier, in December, the congressional legislation was passed, following which TikTok was banned from federal government systems and devices amid concerns that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance could enable the Chinese Communist Party access to user data, as per the sources.

While replying to the question of whether President Biden has no legal mechanism to ban the app TikTok, the Press Secretary stated that she is not going to get into the details on what he has legally to do so and what she is saying that the US has been very clear that TikTok poses a problem and an issue. She added that she is concerned about that as it relates to Americans’ data which is a serious threat to the country.

Additionally, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on Wednesday to authorise a Bill which would give President Joe Biden the power to ban TikTok in the US in spite of objections from a few lawmakers who say the measure could thwart online speech freedoms.