Restrictions on TikTok in the United States

TikTok has sparked concerns over potential user data collection and influence operations by the Chinese government, leading to restrictions and bans in the United States.

Federal


In January 2020, the United States Army and Navy banned TikTok on government devices after the Defense Department labeled it a security risk. Before the policy change, army recruiters had been using the platform to attract young people. Unofficial promotional videos continue to be posted on TikTok under personal accounts, drawing the ire of government officials, but they have also helped boost the number of enlistees; several accounts have millions of views and followers.

Biden administration
On June 9, 2021, the Biden Administration issued Executive Order 14034, "Protecting Americans' Sensitive Data from Foreign Adversaries" ("EO 14034"). EO 14034, overturning three Executive Orders signed by Donald Trump: Executive Order 13942, Executive Order 13943, and Executive Order 13971. Despite revoking these Executive Orders, the Biden Administration's EO 14304 has called upon other federal agencies to continue a broad review of foreign-owned applications set to continuously inform the President of the risk that the applications pose to personal data and national security. The White House said that, "The Biden Administration is committed to promoting an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet; protecting human rights online and offline; and supporting a vibrant, global digital economy."

In December 2022, Senator Marco Rubio and representatives Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi introduced the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act), which would prohibit Chinese- and Russian-owned social networks from doing business in the United States.

On December 30, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, prohibiting the use of the app on devices owned by the federal government, with some exceptions. Days after the Biden administration called on ByteDance, which owns TikTok, to sell the platform or face a ban, law enforcement officials disclosed that an investigation into TikTok was taking place. On March 17, 2023, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officially launched an investigation of TikTok, including allegations that the company spied on American journalists.

On January 25, 2023, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley introduced a bill to ban the platform nationwide. It was later blocked in the Senate by a forced vote on 29 March 2023.

In February and March 2023, the DATA Act and the RESTRICT Act were both introduced in the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively. The DATA Act, introduced on February 24 by Michael McCaul, aimed to ban selling non-public personal data to third-party buyers. On March 7, Senator Mark Warner introduced the RESTRICT Act: if passed, it would give the Secretary of Commerce authority to review business transactions made by IT service and product vendors tied to designated "foreign adversaries" if they present an undue threat to national security, and have more than one million active users in the United States. The legislation would allow for the enforcement of orders and other mitigation measures, which could include mandatory divestment, or being prohibited from doing business in the United States.

On March 13, 2024, the United States House of Representatives passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521) with largely bipartisan support from Democrat and Republican-party representatives. It would ban operations related to the app completely within the country unless ByteDance makes a qualified divestiture as determined by the US president. After modifications, the act passed the House again and the United States Senate before it was signed into law by Joe Biden on April 24, 2024. The earliest the ban could go into effect if not sold would be January 19, 2025. An additional 90 days could be issued on the deadline.

Employee and university bans
As of April 2023, at least 34 out of 50 states have announced or enacted bans on state government agencies, employees, and contractors using TikTok on government-issued devices. State bans only affect government employees and do not prohibit civilians from having or using the app on their personal devices.

Schools
Some public universities have also banned TikTok on campus Wi-Fi and university-owned computers. These include, but are not limited to:


 * Arizona State University
 * Arkansas State University
 * Arkansas Tech University
 * Auburn University
 * Black Hills State University
 * Boise State University
 * Clemson University
 * Dakota State University
 * Idaho State University
 * Iowa State University
 * Lamar University
 * Langston University
 * McLennan Community College
 * Montana University System
 * Morgan State University
 * Northeastern State University
 * Northern State University
 * Northwestern Oklahoma State University
 * Oklahoma State University
 * Purdue University
 * South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
 * South Dakota State University
 * Texas A&M University system
 * Texas State Technical College
 * Texas State University
 * Texas Tech University System
 * University of Arizona
 * University of Central Oklahoma
 * University of Florida
 * University of Houston System
 * University of Idaho
 * University of Iowa
 * University of Northern Iowa
 * University of Oklahoma
 * University of South Dakota
 * University of Texas at Arlington
 * University of Texas at Austin
 * University of Texas at Dallas
 * University of Texas at San Antonio
 * University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
 * University of Wisconsin System
 * University System of Georgia
 * West Texas A&M University

Montana
On April 14, 2023, Montana became the first state to pass legislation banning TikTok on all personal devices operating within state lines, and barring app stores from offering TikTok for download. Governor Greg Gianforte signed the bill, Senate Bill (SB) 419, into law on May 17, claiming he had banned TikTok "to protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party." The law was scheduled to take effect in January 2024. However, Montana content creators filed suit against the state once the bill was signed. The creators' lawsuit is financed and directed by TikTok, with law firm Davis Wright Tremaine representing them.

The ban was blocked by US District Judge Donald W. Molloy on December 1, 2023, as he stated the ban "infringes on the Constitutional right of users and businesses". Due to the block, the ban did not come into effect as planned. On January 2, 2024, Montana filed a notice to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Groups such as the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) opposed the ban, stating it constituted "censorship" and "would set an alarming precedent for excessive government control over how Montanans use the internet." Lobbying group NetChoice argued that the ban is an unconstitutional bill of attainder and also violates the freedom of speech clause of the First Amendment. Hours after the bill was signed into law, five TikTok creators filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Montana against the state. A spokeswoman for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said that the state is "fully prepared to defend the law". In a preliminary ruling November 30, 2023, federal judge Donald Molloy blocked the law citing constitutional concerns. Specifically, Judge Molloy wrote that "the State fails to show how SB 419 is constitutionally permissible."

The law faces technical restrictions. The App Store and Google Play Store track users by country, not by state, and would need to define the behavior when a user crosses state lines. While Apple and Google may be able to use IP addresses to track device locations, users may be able to use a virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent the restriction. If these app stores are found to be hosting TikTok for Montana users, violators could face fines of $10,000 per day. TikTok has stated that it would need to collect data from users in order to comply with the bill.

Other
In July 2020, Wells Fargo banned the app from company devices due to privacy and security concerns.

In August 2023, New York City banned TikTok on government-owned devices for security reasons.

Opinion polling
A July 2020 poll from Morning Consult, with 2,200 surveyed, found that 29% of American adults supported a TikTok ban, 33% opposed one, and 38% had no opinion. An August 2020 poll from Reuters/Ipsos, surveying 1,349, had 40% supporting Trump's move to ban the app, 30% opposed, and 30% uncertain.

A December 2022 poll from Rasmussen Reports, surveying 1,000 likely U.S. voters, found that 68% supported proposals to federally ban TikTok, with 43% strongly supporting a ban. Conversely, 24% surveyed were opposed, including 12% who strongly opposed.

A March 2023 poll from The Washington Post, surveying 1,027 American adults, found that 41% supported the federal government banning TikTok, while 25% remain opposed to a ban. Another March poll, from Pew Research Center, found twice as many adult Americans support the U.S. government's ban on TikTok as oppose it (50% vs. 22%), though a significant portion (28%) remain unsure.

A December 2023 poll from Pew Research Center found 38% in favor of a ban, reflecting a decrease among Republicans even amid renewed efforts by their party leaders to ban the app.

A February 2024 poll by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found 31% of the respondents were in favor of a nationwide ban of TikTok, while 35% said they were opposed to it. Overall 56% said they supported a limited ban on government devices.

An April 2024 poll by Reuters/Ipsos found that a majority of Americans believe that TikTok is used by the Chinese government to influence public opinion.

Company response
TikTok began working on Project Texas after 2020 to address data concerns from the US government. From 2019 to 2024, TikTok and ByteDance combined spent $27 million on lobbying in the United States, including their hire of SKDK, a public affairs firm, in 2023 according to Politico. Reuters reported that according to its sources, if all legal methods to block the April 2024 ban are exhausted, ByteDance would prefer to shut down TikTok than sell it with its core algorithm, which is also subject to China's export control. On May 7, 2024, ByteDance and TikTok filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to overturn the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

Industry response
Some advertisers increased their spending on TikTok in 2023. Edward East, CEO of marketing agency Billion Dollar Boy, stated that instead of being intimidated by a potential ban, the industry is seeing an increase in brand investment through TikTok.

In May 2024, trade association NetChoice removed TikTok as a member after facing pressures and potential investigations by US lawmakers. NetChoice had previously defended TikTok.

Following the passing of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, eight TikTok content creators sued the United States government on May 14, 2024 in United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in an effort to overturn the act; the choice of venue was due to a provision in the act making it the "exclusive jurisdiction" for legal challenges of the act.

Chinese government response
In March 2024, a spokesperson for Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China said the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act was putting the U.S. on "the opposite side of the principle of fair competition and international economic and trade rules." Representatives from the Embassy of China in Washington, D.C. met with U.S. congressional staffers to lobby against the bill. The Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party also instructed the country's state media outlets to increase positive coverage of ByteDance, although overall Beijing's response seems to be muted so far.

Criticism
Bans and attempted bans in the United States have drawn objections citing hypocrisy, protectionism, and not addressing user data privacy in general. Lawmakers making allegations against TikTok fail to mention that the United States itself surveils non-US nationals under Section 702 of FISA. The types of data collected by TikTok are also collected by other social media platforms and sold through brokers to private buyers and reportedly government agencies as well, without oversight. A researcher at Georgia Tech's Internet Governance Project is concerned that Washington's attempt to protect the US market could backfire. Some researchers from the Citizen Lab and the Center for Strategic and International Studies stated that user information in general should be protected, not just focusing on one platform. There has been no public evidence of American TikTok user data being accessed by the Chinese government. Critics have also labeled a potential ban on the app an assault on freedom of speech, including congressmen Rand Paul and Thomas Massie.