The US Department of Justice has indicated that federal employees are now allowed to download TikTok on their work devices, a notable reversal in federal policy toward the Chinese app.
US federal employees can now install TikTok on their government phones and computers. The Department of Justice confirmed this, marking a significant shift after years of institutional distrust of the app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
This decision comes in a specific context: TikTok had been banned on government devices under the previous administration, with several federal agencies and Congress prohibiting the app in the name of national security. Authorities feared that Beijing could access user data or influence the content disseminated.
The Justice Department's reversal is part of the Trump administration's new approach to TikTok, which had itself signed an executive order in 2020 aimed at banning the application before changing its position upon returning to the White House. Donald Trump has granted several extensions to TikTok since January 2025, postponing the application of a law that would have forced ByteDance to divest its US operations under threat of a total ban.
The source remains brief on the operational details of this authorization, particularly regarding any restrictions that might accompany it or the agencies involved.
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