US Army considers TikTok a cyber threat and bans use

The US Army has banned the use of the popular social media app TikTok on government devices. Users should remove the app from the phones due to potential security risks.

Since mid-December, the US Army has been warning military personnel against the use of TikTok. “We consider it a cyber threat. We don’t allow it on government phones,” a spokesperson told Military.com. The US Navy has imposed a similar ban, Reuters reported last week.

The bans follow a Defense Department Cyber ​​Awareness Message in mid-December, stating that use of TikTok has “potential security risks.” The notice advised to watch for unusual activity on phones and remove TikTok to avoid exposing personal information.

Until two months ago, the US Army used TikTok to recruit young people. At the same time, government investigations into the app were under way on the grounds that the Chinese government could request data from American users, because its parent company, ByteDance, is Chinese. TikTok has denied that it stores US users’ data in China: that data is allegedly stored in the US, with backup in Singapore.