The U.S. Senate has passed a bill to block federal employees from using TikTok on government-owned devices, Reuters reported.
The bill still needs to be approved by the House of Representatives and signed by the president in order to take effect. The move is the latest example of how TikTok, owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, is coming under intense scrutiny in Washington amid growing geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China. Some federal agencies such as Defense, Homeland Security and State departments have already banned TikTok from government-owned devices due to national security concerns.
Earlier this week, Republican Senator Marco Rubio introduced bipartisan legislation to ban TikTok in the U.S., saying the video app could be used by China’s government to spy on Americans. Rubio and other lawmakers are alleging that Beijing could gain access to American TikTok users’ personal data or influence the app’s content. TikTok’s executives have repeatedly denied such allegations.
A growing number of U.S.-based companies have also taken action against TikTok in recent weeks following reports that its users were being exposed to inappropriate videos featuring children
