Senate Votes to Ban TikTok on Government-Issued Phones

By Siobhan Hughes

WASHINGTON -- The Senate unanimously passed Thursday a bill prohibiting federal employees from using TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned video-sharing app, on government-issued devices as U.S. national-security concerns mount.

The measure passed through an expedited procedure that avoided a roll-call vote. The White House has been pushing for a sale of TikTok to U.S. owners, citing national-security risks amid fears that the Chinese government could exploit the personal data of users.

"In light of all we know, it is unthinkable to me that we should continue to permit federal employees, those workers entrusted with sensitive government data, to access this app on their work phones and computers," Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.), the sponsor of the measure, said in a statement. "If I have anything to say about it, we won't be stopping here."

The House has already approved a similar measure as part of a wide-ranging, must-pass measure to authorize defense spending. President Trump has threatened to veto that broader legislation over his opposition to provisions renaming military bases that honor the Confederacy. To become law, both chambers would have to enact the TikTok legislation in the same format.

Microsoft Corp. has said it hopes to acquire TikTok's business in the U.S. and three other countries. That deal faces a deadline of Sept. 15, after which Mr. Trump has indicated that TikTok would be banned in the U.S. Microsoft has said that it plans to move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd., which is based in Beijing.

Write to Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 06, 2020 20:55 ET (00:55 GMT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024