House lawmakers, staffers told to bid farewell to TikTok on government phones

House lawmakers and staffers must delete the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from their government-issued devices, the chamber’s administrative arm has informed them.

The directive, issued by the House Administration Committee, comes after the passage of a $1.7 trillion government funding package that included a ban on the popular video app on government devices due to national security risks.

The news came to members and staff via a memo from House Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Catherine L. Szpindor, which states that “beginning immediately,” TikTok is “NOT allowed on House mobile devices.”

“If you have the TikTok app on your House mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it,” she said.

The directive goes on to say that the CAO Office of Cybersecurity “has deemed the TikTok mobile application to be a high risk to users due to a number of security risks.”