#House bans Chinese-owned TikTok from federal phones

The House voted as part of a defense spending bill to bar federal employees from downloading the Chinese-owned TikTok app on government-issued phones because of national security concerns.

Congressional lawmakers on Monday voted 336-71 to approve a proposal offered by Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) in the $741 billion National Defense Authorization Act.

The ban would apply to members of Congress and their staffers.

The social media app TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, has sparked fears that users’ personal information could wind up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

Speaking on the House floor on Monday, Buck called TikTok a “serious national security threat” and said data the app collects “could be used in a cyberattack against our republic” if turned over to government officials in Beijing.

The Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee is expected this week to take up a bill from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) that would bar federal employees from downloading the app on government devices.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O’Brien said last week that President Trump is considering banning TikTok.

Pompeo warned Americans they should use the social network “only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

TikTok denies that it shares information with the CCP, despite the 2017 Chinese “National Intelligence Law,” which states that “Any organization or citizen shall support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence work.”

Meanwhile, TikTok is planning to expand its workforce over the next three years to keep up with growth in the US.

The company has tripled its staff in the US since January and intends to add another 10,000 employees.

“It’s supporting the tremendous growth in the country and follows our strategy of building out teams where we have users,” spokesman Josh Gartner told Axios.

The positions would include engineering, sales, content moderation and customer service, he told the website.