The House of Representatives will block and remove all ByteDance apps from House-managed devices by Aug. 15, House Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor announced Tuesday in an internal notice obtained by NBC News.
TikTok, which ByteDance also owns, has already been banned from House devices since December 2022 and has faced a number of similar bans in various government and nongovernment institutions.
The new ban will specifically prohibit the use of additional ByteDance apps, including CapCut, Hypic, Lark and Lemon8. Szpindor’s email said mobile versions of those apps would be removed first, with desktop and web versions to follow.
“If you have a ByteDance application on your House-managed mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it,” said the notice, which was first obtained by Axios.
ByteDance, which is headquartered in China, has faced criticism from members of Congress who say it poses a national security risk to the U.S. because of its potential vulnerability to the interests of the Chinese Communist Party. In March, the House passed a bipartisan bill to try to ban TikTok in the U.S., which President Joe Biden has signed into law. The law gives ByteDance until after the election to sell the app or face the threat of a ban.
“Communist China is America’s largest geopolitical foe and is using technology to actively undermine America’s economy and security,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement after the March vote.
At the same time, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumed Democratic nominee, both have accounts on TikTok.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew pushed back against the criticism at a congressional hearing, saying TikTok is safe and secure for users.
