U.S. Army Bans TikTok for Soldiers

Published on January 1, 2020

Following a similar ban for members of the US Navy, the Chinese social media app TikTok is no longer allowed on US Army issued government phones.

“It is considered a cyber threat,” Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Robin Ochoa said in a statement to Military.com. The ban comes after the U.S. Department of Defense shared its message, believing TikTok to contain security risks.

However, it’s worth mentioning that the U.S. Military cannot ban service members from using the app on their personal phones.

TikTok On the Clock

TikTok is a social media music app very popular with the Gen Z crowd. Chinese company ByteDance owns the app, and it allows users to share short videos with musical accompaniments. Just months ago, the army was using TikTok as a recruiting tool to appeal to a young audience using a new medium.

The app was the most downloaded app in the US in 2018. The vast majority of its users are teenagers and young adults. This young demographic makes TikTok a perfect way to find potential new members of the military. That is if it weren’t for the risk to national security.

A National Security Threat

Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have been calling for a national security review of the app. Sen. Chuck Schumer sent a letter in November warning the army against using the app to recruit new members in the wake of security concerns.

The concern comes from how the app stores huge amounts of user’s personal data.

This data could, in turn, become available to foreign governments. How Tik Tok stores data should be of concern to all Americans using the app, but especially members of the military whose personal data could easily pose a national security risk.

Olivia Smith is a Staff Writer at Grit Daily. Based in San Francisco, she covers events, entertainment, fashion, and technology. She also serves as a Voices contributor at PopSugar.

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