Senate again votes to ban TikTok from all government devices

The Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill that bans federal employees from installing or using TikTok on government devices, citing national security concerns due to the social media app’s ties to the Chinese government.

The bill, “No TikTok on Government Devices Act,” will now be sent to the House and then must be signed by President Joe Biden before it becomes law. This is the second time the Senate passed the same ban but it previously failed to move forward in the House.

Sponsored by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, the bill would “prohibit certain individuals from downloading or using TikTok on any device issued by the United States or a government corporation.”

TikTok is run by Chinese company Bytedance, which lawmakers are concerned may share information about US users with the Chinese government.

TikTok responded to the bill on Wednesday, telling Insider that the proposal “does nothing to advance U.S. national security interests.”

The company added, “We hope that rather than continuing down that road, he will urge the Administration to move forward on an agreement that would actually address his concerns.”