"Just passed my bill banning TikTok-US on government devices on the Senate floor. Unanimous", Hawley said in a Twitter message.
Also on Thursday, Hawley and Senator Rick Scott introduced legislation to ban all federal employees from using TikTok on government devices.
"TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that includes Chinese Communist Party members on its board, and it is required by law to share user data with Beijing. The company even admitted it collects user data while their app is running in the background. As many of our federal agencies have already recognized, TikTok is a major security risk to the United States, and it has no place on government devices", Hawley said.
Special thanks to @SenRickScott, my first and original cosponsor on this legislation, for his leadership and for joining me on the floor to see the bill adopted
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) August 6, 2020
The State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and TSA have already banned TikTok on federal government devices due to cybersecurity concerns and possible spying by the Chinese government, the release said.
President Donald Trump said TikTok must shut down its US operations if Microsoft fails to acquire the company by 15 September.
