Federal employees can once again download the popular social media app TikTok on government devices, according to a new decision from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The decision comes after Congress banned federal employees from using TikTok on government devices in 2022 due to national security concerns. At the time, TikTok was owned by the China-based tech giant ByteDance.
According to DOJ, that law no longer applies following a January agreement requiring ByteDance to transfer control of TikTok’s U.S. user data and operations to a group of American investors. Lead investors in the newly formed TikTok USDS Joint Venture include Oracle, MGX, and Silver Lake.
Under the deal, TikTok said that user data will be stored on Oracle’s cloud and the platform will abide by U.S. federal cybersecurity standards.
In its memorandum opinion sent to President Donald Trump, the DOJ wrote that “the version of TikTok now available in the United States poses no such [security] risk.”
“We understand you have since instructed that employees of Executive Branch agencies may download TikTok onto their official devices, subject to the agency’s discretion and consistent with all applicable workplace policies,” the memo said.
The DOJ added that federal agencies can decide whether to allow TikTok on government devices, stressing that there is no mandate.
“For instance, agencies may independently decide to ban the downloading of TikTok to government devices for workforce management reasons, such as promoting employee productivity,” the DOJ wrote. “Our opinion should not be understood to call those administrative decisions into question.”