New York City Mayor Mamdani Reverses TikTok Ban for City Government Employees and Agencies

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reversed a TikTok ban enacted by former Mayor Eric Adams in 2023, allowing city government employees and agencies to use the app again with new security guardrails, including a requirement that TikTok only be used on dedicated city devices containing no other applications. Mamdani announced the reversal in a four-second video posted to the reactivated @nycmayor TikTok account, saying simply “TikTok, we're back.” The reversal is notable given that New York State still maintains its own TikTok ban for state employees enacted in 2020, and that cybersecurity experts continue to raise concerns about ByteDance's ownership structure despite TikTok's efforts to separate its US operations from its Chinese parent.