The U.S government has moved forward with banning TikTok on all government issued devices due to potential threats to user safety and personal information at the start of 2023.

The U.S government is worried that since China created and owns the app, the country could use legal and regulatory powers to tap into private user data, or try to push narratives favoring the country. China created TikTok in 2016, and it immediately became one of the most used social media sites all over the world. In fact, 80 million U.S citizens have the app and upload their personal information and lives on it every day.

Tiktok is owned by ByteDance, a company in Beijing, China. The FBI, as well as other government agencies, have declared warnings that this internet company can easily share Tiktok user data with China’s authoritarian government which will compromise national security.

Back in the year 2020, the Trump administration sought to remove TikTok and ban it from the app store. His efforts were blocked, however, by the courts. Last year, President Joe Biden ordered an in depth study of the issue. As a result, Congress passed the “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” in December of 2022 as part of a sweeping government funding package. The act prohibits people who hold federal positions in government to download the app so that their personal information and livelihood is protected.

TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said Monday, “The ban of TikTok on federal devices passed in December without any deliberation, and unfortunately that approach has served as a blueprint for other world governments. These bans are little more than political theater.”

The next step several states are starting to take is banning TikTok permanently for everyone, not just government officials. Several public schools have argued that social media like TikTok is destroying mental health in children, and has become addictive in nature. Lawmakers are now starting to push for a nationwide ban, but little is certain about the future of the app.

Worldwide, the European government has moved forward to ban TikTok on all staff devices, starting on March 20. Other countries that now have bans on TikTok include Canada, Taiwan, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Several U.S politicians disagree with the ban as they think it is pointless. Arguments have been made that it is nonsensical to ban one social media platform but keep others like Facebook and Twitter as user data can be stolen on any of the hundreds of apps, so those opposed to the ban argue what is so different about TikTok.

Today, March 23, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will meet with Congress to discuss safety and security of the app.