White House Lifts TikTok Ban on US Federal Devices After Three Years

The White House has lifted its ban on TikTok on US federal government devices after about three years.

Bloomberg reported on August 11 that the Office of Management and Budget withdrew on August 10 its guidance barring TikTok from federal devices. The restriction had been in place since 2023, when the US government said the app could pose a national security threat.

The move followed a written opinion the Justice Department issued last month. The department said TikTok is no longer subject to a 2022 law banning certain platforms from use on federal government devices because a deal transferring TikTok's US business from Chinese parent ByteDance to Oracle and Silver Lake was completed in January.

The sale of TikTok's US business was completed after about a year of tensions between the US and China. The Justice Department said TikTok's US service is now operated independently from ByteDance and that US investors hold a majority stake.