The Biden administration on Monday gave 30 days to remove the TikTok from government issued devices. The federal employees did not have the Chinese-owned TikTok app on federal devices.

The order follows similar moves by the EU and Canada in recent weeks

The White House order comes after the TikTok app was banned by Congress on federal government devices in December, amid growing national security concerns that TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance could give access to user data to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

National security experts also fear that the CCP could use the app to spread misinformation and disinformation or manipulate the algorithm to control what users in the U.S. see.

A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry accused the US of abusing state power to suppress foreign firms.

We firmly oppose those wrong actions. The US government should respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, stop suppressing the companies and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies in the US. How unsure of itself can the world’s top superpower like the US be to fear young people’s favourite app like that?

Mao Ning – Spokeswoman TikTok

Western officials have become increasingly concerned about the popular video sharing app which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance in recent months. 

TikTok has faced allegations that it harvests users data and hands it to the Chinese government, with some intelligence agencies worried that sensitive information could be exposed when the app is downloaded to government devices.