White House sets deadline for purging TikTok from federal devices

The White House on Monday gave government agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have Chinese-owned app TikTok on federal devices and systems, Reuters reports.

In a bid to keep U.S. data safe, all federal agencies must eliminate TikTok from phones and systems and prohibit internet traffic from reaching the company, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young told agencies in a guidance memorandum seen by Reuters.

The ban, ordered by Congress late last year, follows similar actions from Canada, the EU, Taiwan and more than half of U.S. states.

The device ban - while impacting a tiny portion of TikTok's U.S. user base - adds fuel to calls for an outright ban on the video-sharing app. National security concerns about China surged in recent weeks after a Chinese balloon drifted over the U.S.