The United States Senate shields itself from a possible Trojan horse from the Chinese government. All workers holding a position related to the US federal government will be prohibited from using the TikTok video application.
The social platform belongs to the Chinese company Bytedance and is based in Beijing. Although the top leaders of one of the most downloaded applications in the world have reiterated on several occasions that they do not share the data of their users, the US is suspicious and fears that the Chinese government is collecting information from its leaders.
“TikTok is a Trojan horse for the Chinese Communist Party. It is a huge security risk for the United States, and until it is forced to completely sever ties with China, it has no place on government devices,” he said. indicated Republican Senator Josh Hawley.
The norm has been approved unanimously this Wednesday, but has not yet entered into force. For this to happen, it must be approved by the House of Representatives and subsequently reach President Biden, who will be in charge of signing it and making its entry into force official.
The same Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has already undertaken investigations to find out what treatment is made of user data and where all the information collected by the application ends up.
The “No TikTok on Government Devices Law” is already in force in several states such as North Dakota, Texas, Iowa or Utah, whose governments promoted its approval a few days ago. In addition, the Alabama government has denounced the platform for sharing its users’ data with China and exposing children to adult content.
Although many states, under the banner of the security and protection of their citizens, have already banned the app due to the alleged Chinese espionage strategy, this measure can be imposed at the national level if it is now ratified by the lower house.
From Tiktok they have not yet ruled on this vote. If the ban ends up extending to the entire United States and not just to politicians and Senate workers, it would mean the loss of about 100 million users, in addition to calling into question the security of the application.
