Faculty, staff and students who have any ByteDance application, including TikTok, installed on a device that is used in any federal contract work must delete the app on that device.
An interim Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rule – issued by the Department of Defense (DOD), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the General Services Administration (GSA) – requires a new clause (FAR 52.204-27) that prohibits prime contractors and subcontractors from having or using applications provided by ByteDance Limited on devices used in the performance of the government contract.
- The clause should be included in any federal contract issued or started June 2, 2023, or after, and compliance should start immediately.
- The clause should be added by the contracting officer the next time the contract is amended or modified for any contract started before June 2. Because all federal contracts will eventually be required to comply, compliance is encouraged to begin now.
The ban covers all government, university and personally-owned equipment – such as computers, tablets and phones – that store, access or transmit federal contract information or data. FAR clauses are only applicable to federal contracts – federal grants and cooperative agreements are not impacted by this amendment.
Those paid from a federal contract will receive an email on April 23 from the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge. Questions? Please contact the OTDI Service Desk. Those who did not receive an email and are unsure if compliance is required should refer to their Sponsored Program Officer with questions about the contract.