For the past few years, federal employees have had to leave their TikTok scrolling for their personal phones. That just changed. The Department of Justice issued a memo that effectively kills the 2022 law that banned the app on government devices.
The reason is that TikTok's U.S. operations are no longer fully owned by ByteDance, the Chinese parent company that triggered the original ban. Rather than maintaining the ban, authorities rescinded it after TikTok's U.S. operations were restructured into an entity controlled by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. ByteDance retains a 19.9% stake in that venture. President Donald Trump authorized, according to the DOJ memo reported by Reuters, 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."
In 2022, Congress enacted a law prohibiting federal workers from accessing the short-form video app on government devices due to national security fears tied to ByteDance's ownership. After the initial restriction targeting government devices, a wider TikTok prohibition was implemented nationwide. When the law went into effect in early 2024, the app was offline for only a short period; President Trump then repeatedly postponed enforcement and called on service providers to reinstate access.
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This means some federal workers might still see a block sign if their agency decides the app does not fit workplace rules.
The joint venture structure aims to address national security concerns by placing U.S.-based entities in control of data and operations. Oracle oversees data handling as the security partner, while ByteDance retains only a minority stake. Critics, however, note that the Chinese government could still exert influence through ByteDance's remaining share. The DOJ's memo marks a shift in the government's stance, though the broader TikTok ban remains subject to ongoing legal and political debate.
The original ban grew out of apprehension that ByteDance's Chinese ties could let Beijing access American user data or influence content. Although the joint venture places data under Oracle's watch, skeptics point out that ByteDance's 19.9% stake still offers a potential channel for foreign influence. The nationwide TikTok ban remains tied up in court, and the DOJ's move does not resolve those broader legal battles.
Whether this opens the door for a more permanent resolution regarding the broader TikTok ban remains to be seen, but it is a step in the right direction for the app's U.S. future.
Oracle, already a cloud infrastructure provider for TikTok, was designated the "security partner" responsible for overseeing data storage and access controls. Silver Lake is a private equity firm with deep ties to U.S. technology investments, while MGX is an Abu Dhabi-based fund that has expanded its portfolio into digital assets.
Under the agreement, the new entity operates independently from ByteDance's corporate structure, though ByteDance remains a minority investor. This arrangement was designed to prevent Beijing from directly accessing user data through ByteDance's ownership, a concern that had fueled the original ban.
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