(José Niño, Headline USA) Federal employees can once again access TikTok on government equipment after officials determined the platform’s revamped ownership structure removes the security risks that led to the original prohibition. Bloomberg reported that the shift came after TikTok’s U.S. business moved under the control of American investors.
The Office of Management and Budget canceled its 2023 directive that had ordered agencies to strip TikTok from federal systems, halt fresh downloads, and cut off network access to the app apart from limited exceptions. Officials issued that earlier rule because TikTok answered to a Beijing-based parent company, and lawmakers worried government data could end up exposed.
Bloomberg noted that the policy change traces back to a Justice Department legal opinion released the previous month. That opinion determined the app’s current U.S. version no longer meets the definition of a “covered application” spelled out in the federal statute that had kept TikTok off government networks.
The department explained that the law was written to target TikTok versions built or supplied by ByteDance or firms under ByteDance’s authority. Investigators found that the newly formed TikTok USDS Joint Venture now operates the American version separately from ByteDance, with U.S. shareholders holding majority control.
Per the opinion, the venture “has revised the content recommendation algorithm and cybersecurity program originally developed by ByteDance to insulate federal government information against the concerning security features that initially motivated the prohibition.”
The Justice Department’s review found that sensitive American user information now sits inside Oracle’s protected domestic cloud system, walled off from direct ByteDance access, with independent security experts monitoring the platform’s data protection practices.
TikTok finalized its restructured American ownership in January, closing out months of tension over its Chinese ties. As Reuters reported, the arrangement placed US operations under the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, with Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX each taking a 15 percent managing stake, while ByteDance kept a smaller, non-controlling 19.9 percent share.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
