In order to comply with a US Congress-ordered prohibition, the White House on Monday granted federal agencies a deadline of 30 days to have the Chinese-owned video app TikTok removed from all government-issued devices.

In a memorandum, Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, urged federal organizations to "remove and disallow installations" of the app on agency-owned or operated IT devices and to "prohibit internet traffic" from such devices to the app within 30 days.

Read: US senators call TikTok 'massive surveillance' tool for China

The wildly popular app's millions of individual users and businesses who are not affiliated with the federal government are exempt from the ban. Yet, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claims that a recently submitted bill in Congress would "effectively ban TikTok" in the United States.

"Congress must not censor entire platforms and strip Americans of their constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression," ACLU's  Jenna Leventoff said in a release, adding, "We have a right to use TikTok and other platforms to exchange our thoughts, ideas, and opinions with people around the country and around the world."

In a recent investigation, The Guardian discusses the nature of some video content on #TikTok, which is accused of targeting migrants and selling the "#American dream". pic.twitter.com/MJ2DcKMvBd

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 25, 2022

TikTok, a worldwide famous app owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance, has recently caused a backlash amid allegations that China could use it for espionage or propaganda.

Related News

China denounces US 'interference' over Hong Kong bounties

China sanctions military firms, executives over US weapons to Taiwan

The use of TikTok on government-issued tools is prohibited by the law signed by US President Joe Biden last month. The US Senate and House of Representatives are also prohibited from using TikTok by law.

These concerns have grown following the Chinese balloon that crossed into US airspace and was subsequently shot down, raising national security worries over alleged Chinese espionage over the past month. 

TikTok prohibited in EU, Canada too

On Monday, the Canadian government outlawed TikTok from all of its phones and other gadgets, citing concerns over Beijing's access to user data. According to a government statement, "The TikTok application will be removed from government-issued mobile devices. Users of these devices will also be blocked from downloading the application in the future" as of Tuesday.

The app was also prohibited from being used on European Commission hardware. However, accusations that TikTok transfers data or hands over authority to the Chinese government have been repeatedly refuted.

TikTok's quick growth from a specialized video-sharing software to a major global social media force has drawn considerable criticism, especially due to its ties to China, which scares the country's rivals prompting them to make accusations of all kinds. 

The company has consistently denied giving personal information to the Chinese government.

It is worth noting that TikTok's growth has not been slowed down by bans. According to the marketing firm We Are Social, it is the sixth most popular social platform in the world with more than one billion active members.

Although it doesn't grow as quickly as its rivals among young people, such as Meta's Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, it nevertheless outpaces them.