The House of Representatives' Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor on Tuesday warned lawmakers and their staff that her office will require TikTok be deleted from all House-managed phones by August 15.
The United States is already looking at a possible federal ban on the TikTok app nationwide, if the Chinese-owned parent company of ByteDance does not divest from it by next year. But Congress is also forcing lawmakers to stop using any ByteDance app on their phones due to national security risks.
Szpindor's latest alert goes further than the previous Congressional ban, by telling staffers and House members that the apps will be removed from their devices if they do not do so themselves by the deadline.
“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 said 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.”
The news comes shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign joined the app last week, in order to reach young voters.
"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.
The account already has more than three and a half million followers, and has posted six videos so far.
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