Government Employees Can Now Officially Return to TikTok Scrolling for Leisure

Officials from the Trump administration can now freely use TikTok as stated in a recent memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This announcement marks a significant reversal of a 2022 law that prohibited the app’s use on most government devices.

The OMB’s memorandum references a previous statement from the Justice Department, which indicated that the 2022 prohibition is no longer relevant due to TikTok’s current ownership structure and its different recommendation algorithm from the earlier version that operated under ByteDance. The memo explicitly states that “TikTok may be used on government devices.”

This development signifies the end of one of the final remnants of the TikTok restrictions. The app was barred from most federal government devices in 2022 due to increasing concerns regarding its parent company’s connections to China. Under the leadership of then-President Joe Biden, officials, including FBI Director Chris Wray, identified the app as a potential national security risk, although the specifics of this risk were widely debated.

While intelligence officials did not publicly outline the exact threats associated with TikTok, lawmakers pointed to the app’s data gathering strategies and expressed concerns that the recommendation algorithm could be influenced by the Chinese government.

In the previous year, the app was briefly unavailable in the U.S. following a law passed by President Biden that mandated ByteDance sell the application to American owners or face a ban. The app returned when Trump took office, and this year, a deal was finalized for the U.S. version of the application. It is now managed by TikTok USDS Joint Venture, which is backed by a consortium of investors that includes Oracle and Silver Lake, while ByteDance retains a 19.9% stake in the business.

Already, several federal agencies have started using TikTok for official communications. Departments such as Transportation, Treasury, and Health and Human Services launched new accounts last month following the Justice Department’s opinion. The White House itself created an official TikTok account last year.