US Justice Department Lifts TikTok Ban on Federal Devices
The United States Justice Department has officially cleared federal employees to download the short-video app TikTok onto their government devices, reversing a ban that had been in place for years.
A 2022 bipartisan law previously required all executive branch agencies to remove TikTok from official devices due to national security concerns over its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. However, a newly released memorandum from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel concludes that these restrictions no longer apply to the current version of the application.
The Catalyst: The TikTok USDS Joint Venture
The Justice Department's decision hinges on a massive corporate restructuring that was finalized in January 2026. ByteDance agreed to transfer control of the app's U.S. operations, user data, and content moderation to a new entity known as TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC.
This restructuring fundamentally changed the app's risk profile:
American Oversight: The venture is now 80.1% owned by American and global investors, with a consortium including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX taking major controlling stakes.
Minority Stake: ByteDance retains only a 19.9% minority share, which the DOJ explicitly stated "makes no practical difference" to the security assessment.
Data Security: TikTok USDS is actively retraining, testing, and updating the app's recommendation algorithm strictly using U.S. user data. Furthermore, the algorithm and all user data are securely hosted on Oracle's U.S. cloud infrastructure.
Agency Discretion Remains
In a 12-page memorandum addressed to the deputy counsel to President Donald Trump, the DOJ clarified that the 2022 congressional ban only targeted the version of TikTok that possessed problematic ownership features. Because those features have been removed through the qualified divestiture, the security risks have been neutralized.
"We understand you have since instructed that employees of Executive Branch agencies may download TikTok onto their official devices, subject to the agency’s discretion and consistent with all applicable workplace policies," the DOJ memo stated.
It is important to note that while the national security ban has been lifted, individual federal agencies may still restrict the app on government devices for standard workforce management and productivity reasons.
The End of a Long Political Battle
This ruling closes a turbulent chapter for TikTok in the United States. President Trump had previously opted not to enforce a separate 2024 law requiring ByteDance to sell its U.S. assets or face a nationwide ban, allowing time for the TikTok USDS deal to materialize. With the restructuring now legally recognized as sufficient by the Justice Department, the platform's roughly 200 million American users—and now federal employees—can continue using the app under the new privacy protections.