WASHINGTON, USA — US Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Rick Scott (R-FL) have introduced legislation that would ban all federal employees from using TikTok on government devices. The US State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and TSA have already banned TikTok on federal devices due to cybersecurity concerns and the potential for spying by the Chinese government.
Rubio is the vice-chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
“TikTok poses a potential threat to personal privacy and our national security interests,” Rubio said. “There is absolutely no reason why this application, which Beijing can use to advance its malign foreign policy initiatives, should be utilized on federal devices. In its current form, this platform is not safe. I’m proud to join Senators Hawley and Scott in introducing this bill.”
“TikTok is a Trojan horse for the Chinese Communist Party that has no place on government devices—or any American devices, for that matter,” Hawley said. “My bill is a straightforward plan to protect American government data from a hostile foreign power, which, less than a year ago, passed the Senate unanimously. TikTok has repeatedly proven itself to be a malicious actor but Joe Biden and Big Tech refuse to take the threat of Chinese espionage seriously. It’s time for Congress to act.”
“We cannot allow federal employees to jeopardize US government networks and national security by using apps like TikTok, which are connected to the Chinese Communist Party,” Scott said. “Communist China has shown again and again that it will stop at nothing to infiltrate our government networks and steal American technology and intellectual property. I’m proud to join Senator Hawley on this important legislation and hope our colleagues will join us in quickly passing the No TikTok on Government Devices Act.”
