The Justice Department has announced that federal employees are now permitted to download TikTok on their government devices.
Previously, a law established in 2022 prohibited federal employees from using the popular short-form video app on such devices. However, the DOJ has stated that this law is no longer in effect due to a newly formed partnership that transferred TikTok’s U.S. operations to a joint venture supported by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. In this arrangement, Oracle acts as the security partner, while ByteDance, the previous owner, retains a minority stake of 19.9%.
According to a memo from the DOJ, President Donald Trump has authorized “employees of Executive Branch agencies” to “download TikTok onto their official devices, at the discretion of their agency and in accordance with relevant workplace policies.”
The initial ban on government employees’ use of TikTok ultimately led to a wider prohibition across the United States. However, during the early enforcement of this law last year, the app faced only a temporary suspension as Trump intervened, pushing for service providers to restore access.
