Federal Workers Regain TikTok Access on Government Devices After 80.1% U.S.-Owned Restructuring
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 18
Federal Workers Regain TikTok Access on Government Devices After 80.1% U.S.-Owned Restructuring
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 18
Summary
A DOJ memo says executive-branch employees may again download TikTok on official devices, ending a yearslong federal ban subject to agency discretion and workplace policies.
January’s restructuring shifted TikTok’s U.S. data and operations to TikTok USDS, a majority American-owned joint venture in which U.S. and global investors hold 80.1% and ByteDance 19.9%.
The Office of Legal Counsel said that new structure removed the national-security risks behind the 2022 device ban, concluding the American-controlled version of TikTok “poses no such risk.”
The reversal follows a 2024 sell-or-ban law, a 2025 Supreme Court ruling upholding it, and Trump’s repeated enforcement delays while investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX assembled the deal.
TikTok says roughly 200 million Americans use the app; under the new setup, U.S. user data is stored in Oracle’s secure cloud and the recommendation algorithm is being retrained on U.S. data.
With ByteDance licensing its algorithm, how can the U.S. guarantee TikTok is free from foreign manipulation?
How will retraining TikTok's algorithm on U.S. data change what users see on their feeds?
TikTok USDS: How a $14 Billion Restructuring Ended the Federal Ban and Redefined Data Privacy in America
Overview
In July 2026, the federal government reversed its ban on TikTok for government-issued devices, following TikTok’s major restructuring. This change was driven by TikTok’s divestiture of ByteDance’s controlling interest and the introduction of strong U.S.-led data security protocols, which addressed long-standing national security concerns about foreign access to user data. The original ban, set in 2022 due to privacy fears, led to a Congressional mandate in 2024 requiring divestiture or a nationwide ban. Now, while the federal ban is lifted, individual agencies can set their own TikTok policies, reflecting a more nuanced and flexible approach.