TSA Employees Forbidden To Use TikTok For Creating Content

After receiving a lot of criticism and facing pressure from lawmakers, the Transportation Security Administration(TSA) has banned its employees from using the Tiktok app for content creation. The ban was forced due to the social media platform's ties to China.

This announcement took place after Sen. Chuck Schumer ( D-NY), sent a letter to the Federal agency for still using the app, even after it was banned by Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security.

"The TSA is to be recognized for its work to engage a variety of stakeholders with airline rules and safety, but it also must acknowledge the ironic risk it's placing its own agency -- and potentially the public -- in with its continued use of the China-owned TikTok app," said Schumer in a statement last Sunday.

"Given the widely reported threats, the already-in-place agency bans, and the existing national security concerns posed by TikTok, the feds cannot continue to allow the TSA's use of the platform to fly," he further added.

Pointing to the viral videos posted by TSA for travelers, Schumer accused the TSA of using agency accounts for posting TikTok videos, even as the digital platform is being federally probed. Schumer said that these videos are surely creative, and they do make you chuckle but China might be laughing at the TSA postings on the TikTok app for a different reason altogether. He also added that TSA should cease the use of TikTok and find other digital platforms.

"A small number of TSA employees have previously used Tik Tok on their personal devices to create videos for use in TSA's social media outreach, but that practice has been discontinued," the spokesperson for TSA told ABC News Monday.

He also added that the agency has an "award-winning presence on several social media platforms" but it has never directed viewers towards the TikTok app.