While the Army initially saw popular video app TikTok as a potential tool to reach out to young Americans for recruiting purposes, it is now banned Army-wide.
"It is considered a cyber threat," Lt. Col. Robin Ochoa told Military.com. The Army policy aligns with the new guidance coming from the Department of Defense which bans the app on all government phones. DOD cannot ban the app on the privately-owned cell phones of service members but urges caution when installing apps.
Back in November lawmakers launched a security probe into the app, which is popular with teenagers and has over 100 million downloads. TikTok is owned by a Chinese company named ByteDance.
TikTok has also been accused of removing content that the Chinese government deems offensive, such as videos about the detention of Uighurs in Western China in so-called reeducation camps.