The Trump administration removed restrictions on TikTok use in federal government devices on Monday after it decided the social media app no longer presents a national security threat following the transfer of its U.S. operations to American investors.
The White House Office of Management and Budget canceled a directive from 2023 which blocked TikTok on government equipment because of security concerns because of its Chinese ownership. Earlier this year, TikTok finalized a deal to establish a majority-owned joint venture to secure U.S. data, and avoid a ban. The agreement provided for American and global investors to hold 80.1% of the venture while ByteDance will own 19.9%. TikTok USDS JV’s three managing investors include cloud computing giant Oracle, private equity group Silver Lake (SILAK.UL) and Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX.
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The joint venture said it would retrain the social media platform’s recommendation algorithm using data from American users, and Oracle would “review and validate source code on an ongoing basis.” The sale ended scrutiny of the app over national security. TikTok and the Beijing government have denied claims by U.S. officials that user data could be misused or that China could use the app to promote specific narratives or spread false information.
The Justice Department stated that TikTok now operates separately from ByteDance and is majority owned by US investors. The app “has revised the content recommendation algorithm and cybersecurity program originally developed by ByteDance to insulate federal government information against the concerning security features that initially motivated the prohibition,” according to the Justice Department.
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According to CBS News, it is still up to individual federal agencies to decide whether to allow TikTok, and agencies can still “independently decide to ban the downloading of TikTok to government devices for workforce management reasons, such as promoting employee productivity.” An opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel said, “We understand you have since instructed that employees of Executive Branch agencies may download TikTok onto their official devices, subject to the agency’s discretion and consistent with all applicable workplace policies.”
The Justice Department told CBS News, “This change reflects the plain text of the statute and the reality that TikTok’s U.S. operations have been restructured. Congress banned an application controlled by ByteDance, and ByteDance no longer controls the platform. A new, majority American-owned joint venture now runs it.”