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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that federal employees can once again download and use TikTok on government-issued devices.
The department said the current version of TikTok no longer poses the same national security risks that led to the ban in 2022.
The US government banned TikTok from most federal devices after the FBI warned that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, could collect user data and pose security risks.
In 2024, the US House of Representatives passed a bill requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US business or face a nationwide ban.
A deal was completed in January this year, creating a new company called TikTok USDS Joint Venture. The new venture is majority-owned by American investors, including Oracle, while ByteDance has retained a stake of less than 20 percent.
TikTok said American users’ data is now stored in Oracle’s secure cloud system in the United States. It also said the US operation trains its recommendation algorithm using data from US users while continuing to provide international content.
According to the Justice Department, the new US-based company operates independently of ByteDance and has strengthened its cybersecurity system to address previous security concerns.
However, the DOJ said individual federal agencies can still decide whether to allow TikTok on government devices. Agencies may continue to ban the app for reasons such as improving employee productivity.
