TSA Employees Are No Longer Allowed To Post Content On TikTok

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has banned its employees from using TikTok after Senator Charles E. Schumer has raised national security concerns.

What Happened

TSA will no longer allow employees the use of the video-sharing app TikTok to post content on its behalf after Senate Minority Leader Schumer sent TSA administrator David Pekoske a letter on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

The TSA revealed on Sunday that a small number of its employees had previously used TikTok on their personal devices to create videos for its social media purposes. It said that this practice had since been “discontinued.”

Schumer released a statement on his official senate webpage on Sunday, alleging that the TSA “is still using” TikTok. The New York Senator citing existing ban of TikTok imposed by Department of Homeland Security said, “Given the widely reported threats, the already-in-place agency bans, and the existing national security concerns posed by TikTok, the feds cannot continue to allow the TSA’s use of the platform to fly.”

Why It Matters

TikTok’s popularity continues to rise steadily, and it was the fourth most downloaded non-gaming app in 2019, with 655.8 million unique installs, according to an analytics provider Sensor Tower.

The video-sharing platform is also a driver for advertising ROI with ad spending accelerating on the platform by 75X between May to November 2019.

Bytedance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, has been in the crosshairs of Congress and is looking to lessen the scrutiny it faces from US politicians.

TikTok employs 400 people in the United States and has opened an office in Los Angeles. 

Senator Schumer has advocated the use of alternative platforms to TSA for its social media outreach.

Posted In: GovernmentNewsPoliticsMediaGeneralAssociated PressTikTokTSA
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