Joe Biden’s campaign has ordered his staff to remove TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media application, from their phones due to security and privacy concerns, according to a report.
Dan Remus, the supposed general counsel for the Democratic candidate, told employees in an email that they should “refrain from downloading and using TikTok at work and personal devices,” reported Bloomberg News.
The campaign has no official presence in the app, about which security experts have raised concerns about cybersecurity.
The Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee have warned their candidates and workers of the use of the social media platform, which is owned by the Beijing-based internet company ByteDance, according to the media outlet.
Last year, The Guardian reported that internal documents instructed moderators to censor content that could irritate Chinese officials, although the app said at the time that those policies were no longer in effect, according to Business Insider.
Subsequently, the top senators in the United States asked intelligence agencies to investigate the application’s connection to Beijing and whether it presents risks to national security.
The US Armed Services and various government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, have banned troops and workers from using TikTok.
Trump administration officials have claimed that TikTok’s data collection practices pose privacy risks for users.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O’Brien said earlier this month that the White House was considering banning the app.
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows later said restrictions on the app could come in “weeks, not months.”
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