Senate votes to ban TikTok on US government-owned devices

The US Senate late on Wednesday passed by voice-vote a bill to bar federal employees from using Chinese-owned TikTok on government-owned devices.

The bill must still be approved by the US House of Representatives before going to Joe Biden for approval. The House of Representatives would need to pass the Senate bill before the current congressional session ends, which is expected next week.

The vote is the latest action on the part of US lawmakers to crackdown on Chinese companies amid national security fears that Beijing could use them to spy on Americans.

The Senate action comes after North Dakota and Iowa this week joined a growing number of states in banning TikTok, owned by ByteDance, from state-owned devices amid concerns that data could be passed on to the Chinese government.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds issued directives prohibiting executive branch agencies from downloading the app on any government-issued equipment. Around a dozen US states have taken similar actions, including Alabama and Utah this week.

Other states taking similar actions include Texas, Maryland and South Dakota.