US Justice Department lifts TikTok ban on federal devices

The US Department of Justice has announced that federal employees are now permitted to download and install TikTok on government-issued electronics. The decision lifts a ban that was imposed in 2022 due to national security concerns regarding data collection by parent company ByteDance. The Justice Department stated that the current version of the application does not pose the risks associated with the previous iteration, allowing for its reinstatement on federal devices.

The policy shift follows a deal finalised in January this year, which established the TikTok US Data Security Joint Venture. This new entity is majority-owned by American investors, with ByteDance retaining an almost 20 percent stake. The remaining ownership is controlled by a group of non-Chinese investors, including Oracle, which provides secure US cloud infrastructure for the venture.

In its announcement, the Justice Department explained that the joint venture functions independently of ByteDance. The department noted that the entity has revised its content recommendation algorithm and cybersecurity programs to insulate federal government information against the security features that initially motivated the prohibition. TikTok had previously stated that the US entity would train its algorithm on data from people in the US while ensuring users still receive international content.

The original ban was enacted in 2022 after FBI Director Chris Wray warned that China could use the app to collect data on users via ByteDance. The regulatory landscape shifted further in 2024 when the US House of Representatives passed a bill to ban TikTok in the country altogether unless ByteDance sells it. However, the January agreement creating the joint venture provided a pathway for the app to remain operational under a new security structure.

Despite the federal lift of the ban, individual agencies retain the discretion to prohibit the app for workforce management reasons. The Justice Department noted that agencies may independently decide to ban the downloading of TikTok on government devices to promote employee productivity. This leaves the final decision on access to the discretion of individual department heads rather than a uniform federal mandate.