A newly proposed bill in Congress would expand the authority of lawmakers to respond to the security threat TikTok and other apps pose.
While previous bills usually left it up to President Joe Biden to decide whether and how to address TikTok, the new bill would allow the Secretary of Commerce to respond to national security risks, with steps up to and including banning the app entirely.
Sen. Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, called TikTok a national security threat while discussing the new legislation. He says the bill already has a dozen bipartisan sponsors.
Introduction of the bill comes as the New York Times reports the Biden administration wants Congress to give it more authority to address Tiktok's security concerns. The White House has given feedback on Warner's legislation, but it's not yet clear if it will support the new bill.
In the meantime, the government itself is taking stronger steps: The Office of Management and Budget has given federal agencies until late March to scrub TikTok off of government devices entirely.
White House: No more TikTok on government devices
The Office of Management and Budget said this is a "critical step forward in addressing the risks presented by the app to sensitive government data."
