The United States has taken an important step toward a countrywide ban on TikTok.

The popular social networking software was voted off government devices in the United States House of Representatives. The House administration is directly responsible for the prohibition that was issued on Tuesday.

According to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the House of Representatives, this app is considered “high risk owing to a variety of security vulnerabilities” and must be removed from all devices under House of Representatives management immediately.

The White House is expected to issue an official ban on the app in the near future.

The action announced today is only one of several being taken on a federal level to outlaw the app. The $1.6 trillion spending package already includes language prohibiting the app’s use on government-owned computers. After President Joe Biden signs the measure into law, that will become official policy.

The Chief Administrative Officer’s office acknowledged the prohibition on House devices by stating, “after the passing of the Omnibus that prohibited TikTok on executive branch devices, the CAO worked with the Committee on House Administration to create a similar policy for the House.”

A rising number of state governments have imposed prohibitions on TikTok on government-run devices, and now the federal government has followed suit. A movement for banning the app nationally is gaining steam.

Even though TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese firm that might be compelled to pass over user data to the Chinese government, the company has not commented to the latest restriction but has previously labelled the bans politically motivated and claimed that it continues to treat user privacy seriously.

Despite the backlash, TikTok’s popularity in the United States is rising, even more so than that of rival social media applications like Instagram and Snapchat.