US gives federal agencies 30 days to delete TikTok

The White House has set a 30-day deadline for government agencies to delete TikTok from all their devices. The information is in a memorandum of orientation from the director of the Office of Administration and Budget of the United States, Shalanda Young, to agencies linked to the US government. A Reuters had access to the document.

According to the agency, the action does not affect the more than 100 million Americans who use TikTok on devices that are private or owned by companies not linked to the government.

The ban was ordered by the US Congress in December. There is concern on the part of lawmakers and members of the US government that China uses the data stored by ByteDance, the company responsible for TikTok, to spy on Americans.

In November of last year, the director of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation –US bureau of investigation), Chris Wray, said that TikTok’s operations in the US have the potential risk of being used by the government of China to influence users or control their devices.

the former president Donald Trump tried to prevent, in 2020, that new US users download TikTok, but lost a series of court battles. In June 2021, the country’s current chief executive, Joe Bidenwithdrew Trump’s executive orders and directed the Commerce Department to conduct a review of security issues raised by the apps.

A ByteDance, conforme a Reuterssaid security concerns raised by the US are fueled by misinformation and denied using the app to spy on US citizens.