Justice Department Weakens TikTok Ban, Opening Door to Chinese Influence Despite Ownership Shuffle
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The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has undermined the 2022 law banning TikTok on government devices, claiming the app's new U.S. ownership structure exempts it from restrictions. Critics warn this move risks national security as Chinese company ByteDance still retains a significant stake.
The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has issued a 12-page opinion that effectively guts the 2022 congressional ban on TikTok for federal devices, arguing that the app's current U.S. version—now operated by a so-called American joint venture—no longer falls under the law. Addressed to the deputy counsel to the president, the opinion claims that the original ban targeted TikTok's 'problematic ownership features.' Yet, despite a reshuffling of paperwork, Chinese parent company ByteDance still holds a troubling 19.9% stake, leaving the door open to foreign influence.
This ruling comes after a January 2026 transaction handed majority ownership of TikTok's U.S. operations to a group of American investors, with Oracle among them. The new entity, TikTok U.S. Data Security (TikTok USDS), has made promises of enhanced cybersecurity, including algorithm retraining with American user data and ongoing source-code review by Oracle. However, critics argue these measures are little more than window dressing, as the core technology and ties to China remain.
While the opinion lifts the blanket ban, it leaves the decision to individual federal agencies, allowing them to prohibit TikTok on their devices for workplace-management reasons, such as productivity. The White House, dodging responsibility, has referred comment requests to the Justice Department, which has yet to respond.
The original 2022 law was enacted out of legitimate concerns that ByteDance, under Chinese Communist Party influence, could access sensitive American data. In 2024, Congress passed even stricter legislation to ban TikTok nationwide unless ByteDance divested by January 2025, but the ban was never enforced, thanks to a directive from the former president. Now, the Justice Department's latest opinion signals a dangerous willingness to compromise national security for the sake of appeasing foreign interests.