Senate Votes to Ban TikTok on Government Devices

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The Senate passed on Wednesday a bill to ban TikTok on U.S. government devices.

The No TikTok on Government Devices Act, introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), passed by unanimous consent, meaning no senator objected to it being passed without a roll-call vote.

“Tonight the Senate unanimously passed my bill to BAN TikTok on all government devices,” tweeted Hawley. “Now is the time to act quickly and send this bill to the President’s desk.”

TikTok blasted the bill.

“Once again, Sen. Hawley has moved forward with legislation to ban TikTok on government devices, a proposal which does nothing to advance U.S. national security interests,” said a TikTok spokesperson in a statement. “We hope that rather than continuing down that road, he will urge the Administration to move forward on an agreement that would actually address his concerns.”

Hawley fired back at the company.

“Here’s TikTok acknowledging there are national security concerns with its platform! – but begging Congress not to ban it on government devices,” he tweeted on Thursday.

Separately, a bipartisan bill to ban TikTok in the United States was introduced on Tuesday.

The Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act, or ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act, would forbid transactions to TikTok or its parent company Bytedance Ltd., or a subsidiary or a successor company of the two. Additionally, it would prohibit transactions with social media companies backed by China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the Senate version of the bill, while Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) introduced the House version.