WASHINGTON: The US Senate voted Thursday to bar TikTok from being downloaded onto US government employees' telephones, intensifying US scrutiny of the popular Chinese-owned video app. The bill passed by the Republican controlled Senate now goes to the House of Representatives, led by Democrats.

"TikTok is a major security risk and has no place on government devices," said Republican Senator Josh Hawley, the sponsor of the bill. President Donald Trump, who has locked horns with China on a range of issues including trade and the pandemic, has set a deadline of mid-September for TikTok to be acquired by a US firm or be banned in the US.