The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced Sunday that it would bar employees from using the social media app TikTok to create content for the agency after a security review of the app.
A spokesperson for the TSA told The Associated Press that a “small number” of agency employees had previously used the app to create videos for outreach purposes, but that the practice would be “discontinued.”
A “small number of TSA employees have previously used TikTok on their personal devices to create videos for use in TSA’s social media outreach, but that practice has since been discontinued,” said the spokesperson.
While the content was created using TikTok it was never posted directly to the platform, instead appearing on other social media sites, according to the TSA.
TikTok representatives did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.
The move comes after other federal agencies as well as the U.S. Army have banned use of the app, which was created by a Chinese company. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) previously called on the agency to halt its use in a statement to the AP on Saturday.
“Given the widely reported threats, the already-in-place agency bans, and the existing concerns posed by TikTok, the feds cannot continue to allow the TSA’s use of the platform to fly,” he said.
