All ByteDance apps banned from House devices

The House of Representatives’ Chief Administrative Officer announced Tuesday that the House will block and remove all ByteDance apps from House-managed devices.

The House of Representatives will block and remove all ByteDance apps from House-managed devices by Aug. 15, House Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor announced Tuesday in an internal notice obtained by NBC News.  

TikTok, which ByteDance also owns, has already been banned from House devices since December 2022 and has faced a number of similar bans in various government and nongovernment institutions.

The new ban will specifically prohibit the use of additional ByteDance apps, including CapCut, Hypic, Lark and Lemon8. Szpindor’s email said mobile versions of those apps would be removed first, with desktop and web versions to follow.

“If you have a ByteDance application on your House-managed mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it,” said the notice, which was first obtained by Axios.

ByteDance, which is headquartered in China, has faced criticism from members of Congress who say it poses a national security risk to the U.S. because of its potential vulnerability to the interests of the Chinese Communist Party. In March, the House passed a bipartisan bill to try to ban TikTok in the U.S., which President Joe Biden has signed into law. The law gives ByteDance until after the election to sell the app or face the threat of a ban.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/bytedance-apps-banned-house-devices-rcna164356

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