TikTok’s parent company is making its latest leap into the House of Representatives.
In two weeks, all products from Chinese internet firm ByteDance will be banned from House devices, according to a notice sent to staff on Tuesday.
ByteDance’s most famous product is TikTok, which has long been at the center of Congress. The House Administration Committee has already supported removing TikTok from official devices by the end of 2023.
The policy now extends to other ByteDance products such as Capcut, Hypic, Lark and Lemon8.
Starting in August. 15, the Capitol Office of Cyber Security will reach out to ask staff to delete any ByteDance apps on their official devices.
“ByteDance products will be blocked and removed on Home-managed devices, starting with mobile devices. If you have a ByteDance app on your Home-managed mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it,” the notice to staff explained.
In April, the Senate floated a measure from the House of Representatives that would have forced ByteDance to sell TikTok or see the popular video-sharing app banned from the Google and Apple app stores.
President Biden signed that measure into law, empowering the administration to ensure the sale of ByteDance within a year or approve the ban.
ByteDance has vowed to continue with court challenges against the bill.
Underpinning the move are heightened national security concerns due to ByteDance’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
National security experts and lawmakers fear China could get its hands on a wide range of browsing history, biometric identifiers, location data and more from American users.
This data could be used to fuel China’s artificial intelligence aspirations. TikTok claims to have around 170 million users.
TikTok has strongly denied the allegations, but Congress and national security leaders have remained unconvinced.
Former President Donald Trump has signaled opposition to the measure — though he originally instituted the ban during his presidency. It is unclear whether he will change the policy if he retakes the White House.
As president, he signed an executive order to block the popular video-sharing site, but a court later overturned the move.
China does not allow a host of US internet services, such as Facebook and Google, within its borders.
Beyond the investment push, both the Biden administration and Congress have taken steps to restrict TikTok, including a 2022 measure to ban the social media platform from government equipment.
Amid the stalemate over ByteDance, millions of dollars in US pension funds are believed to be invested in the company. This includes money for New York’s police officers and firefighters.
The Post has reached out to TikTok for comment.
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