US federal agencies have been given 30 days to remove TikTok from all government devices amid mounting fears that US data may end up in the hands of Chinese Communist Party members via the Beijing-owned social media platform.

The White House Office of Management and Budget gave the order in a memorandum that was sent on Tuesday to the heads of executive departments and agencies. Congress had mandated the office develop standards over the social media platform’s removal when it passed the No TikTok on Government Devices Act late last year.

The memorandum, which fulfills Congress’ mandate, requires TikTok to be scrubbed within 30 days from all information technology owned or operated by federal agencies as well as those used by federal contractors.

For years, Republicans have been warning that TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance could be compelled to handover the data it has collected from US users to Beijing.

Former President Donald Trump had sought to ban TikTok, along with WeChat – a Chinese-owned messaging application – via executive order in August of 2020, which was shelved the next month when a judge with a TikTok lawsuit against the move.

President Joe Biden  in June of 2021 rescinded the ban via an executive order of his own that directed a security review be taken. However, more than 20 Republican-led states took the issue into their own hands and ordered government bans at the state level with some Democratic-led states, such as Wisconsin, following.

The Department of Defense, Transportation Security Administration and the House already have TikTok bans in place over national security concerns associated with the social media platform.

CURRENTPH NEWS SERVICE