The U.S. Army announced bans, soldiers from using the most popular iOS, and Android 15-second video app TikTok. Earlier on Dec. 16, the defense system agency recommended all the employees of the defense department not to use the TikTok app.
TikTok is a Chinese based popular video-sharing mobile platform and which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance.
The ban comes as the app could be used for surveillance purposes and consider as a security threat plus not allow it on government phones.
Very recently in October, U.S senators Tom Cotton R-Arkansas, and Chuck Schumer requested to U.S intelligence Team to investigate the activities of TikTok and report whether it represents a national security risk.
In December end, U.S. Navy regulates the guidelines to prohibiting the use of TiKTok and advise soldiers to stop using TikTok on government phones.
Using TikTok on soldiers personal cannot be restricted but Army leaders recommend that service members use caution if they receive random or unfamiliar text messages, an Army spokeswoman said to the Military.com.
On December 16, Department Cyber Awareness Message identifying “TikTok as having potential security risks associated with its use.
The new guidelines warned all Defense Department employees to “be wary of applications you download, monitor your phones for unusual and unsolicited texts, etc and recommended to delete them immediately and uninstall TikTok to prevent from leaking the personal and sensitive information.
In this regard, TikTok released a Transparency Report and said: “We take any request from government bodies extremely seriously, and closely review each such request we receive to determine whether, for example, the request adheres to the required legal process or the content violates local law.”
Also Read: 25 Years Old Hacker Steals Hundreds of User Accounts from US Military Communications System
