US Senate unanimously passes bill banning TikTok on government devices

US Senate on Thursday, August 6 unanimously passed a bill banning the use of Chinese-owned video application TikTok on government devices. The bill will now go to President Donald Trump to be signed into law. While taking to Twitter, Senator Josh Hawley informed about the decision and thanked Senator Rick Scott for his support.   

The bill will restrict federal employees from using the Chinese-owned app on government-issued devices. In a series of tweets, Hawley thanked Scott, who is the ‘first and original’ cosponsor on the legislation, for his leadership and for joining him to see the bill adopted. The US Senator had introduced the bill first earlier this year in March. 

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Senator Rick Scott in a statement applauded the Senate’s decision and said, “Today the US Senate sent a powerful message to all companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Companies like TikTok, under the control of Communist China, are obligated to spy, steal user data and censor any content the government wishes”. 

He added, “I am glad that the Senate agreed to pass my bill with Senator Hawley today to ban this app on government devices, eliminating a threat to US networks and to national security”. 

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‘Untrusted vendors’ 

TikTok has been facing increasing scrutiny in the United States for the past several weeks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatening a ban on the Chinese owned application. The country, which has already implemented sanctions against Chinese mobile service provider Huawei, is planning to ban TikTok from its territory.

US authorities have accused TikTok of sharing personal data of American citizens with the Chinese Communist Party and have warned the company to either become an American firm or face a ban.

Earlier this week, Mike Pompeo is reported to have said that the Trump administration is ‘working hard’ to protect US citizens from the threats of ‘untrusted vendors’ such TikTok and WeChat. The US Secretary of State further even announced a five-prolonged ‘Clean Network’ that aimed to check potential risks to US national security from China. 

(With ANI inputs) 

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