Teck Report: For security reasons, authorities in New York City, the capital of New York State, banned TikTok from government equipment. The app has been ordered to be removed from city-owned devices and networks within the next 30 days.
The directive also states that government employees cannot use TikTok on government-owned equipment and networks. Earlier, the use of TikTok was banned in several US states citing security risks.
US lawmakers have long warned about the Chinese government’s influence on the app, owned by Chinese tech giant Byte Dance. In continuation of the same, they are demanding the banning of TikTok in the United States.
A representative for New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that TikTok is a growing threat to the security of the city’s technology network. For this reason, the app has been banned.
In February this year, the White House, the official office and residence of the US President, ordered the removal of the TikTok app from the mobile phones of all government officials and employees.
Then in early summer, state government employees were also issued orders to remove the app from their devices.
This order has been implemented in at least 20 states, including the capital, Washington.
The White House gave this order on the recommendation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FBI and the FCC claim that TikTok is smuggling the data of its US users to China.
Earlier in 2020, former US President Donald Trump tried to ban new downloads of Tiktok. However, it was not successful in several court rulings.