The record of U.S. states banning TikTok on government-issued telephones over cyber safety issues continues to develop, with Wisconsin and North Carolina the most recent to take action.
“I just signed an executive order banning TikTok and other potential cybersecurity-threatening technologies on state-issued devices,” Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers wrote on Twitter.
“Defending our state’s technology and cybersecurity infrastructure and protecting digital privacy will continue to be a top priority,” he added.
Having launched in 2016, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app turned massively common internationally in recent times, reaching 755 million world customers in 2022.
Two-thirds of American teenagers at the moment are TikTok customers.
But it has been criticized for permitting the Chinese authorities to entry customers’ delicate private information, together with location and shopping historical past.
The U.S. military had already prohibited TikTok on navy units and the Senate handed a invoice in December final yr to stop federal workers from utilizing TikTok on authorities units.
BANNING TIKTOK FROM GOVERNMENT DEVICES STARTED IN 2022
As of January 2023, at the least 26 states totally or partially prohibit officers and workers from utilizing TikTok on government-issued units.
Florida was the primary state to situation a ban in 2020, adopted by Nebraska.
“As an app owned by a company based in China, TikTok is legally obligated to provide data from its users to the country’s communist regime upon request,” mentioned Nebraska’s former Governor Pete Ricketts.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem signed an govt order in November final yr banning state businesses, workers and contractors from accessing TikTok on authorities units.
According to Noem, “the Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data of the devices that access the platform.”
On Dec. 13, 2022, Maryland’s Office of Security Management launched a cybersecurity directive to ban the favored social media platform for an “unacceptable level of cybersecurity risk to the state,” like “cyber-espionage” or “surveillance of government entities.”
A day later, Indiana sued TikTok, alleging that it’s deceiving customers about China’s entry to their information and exposing youngsters to mature content material. Indiana’s Office of Technology barred entry to brief video sharing on government-issued telephones.
Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Alabama, Iowa, North Dakota, Idaho, New Hampshire, Georgia, Virginia, Montana, West Virginia, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Kansas additionally joined these states to enact TikTok bans in 2022.
MORE STATES BAN TIKTOK IN 2023
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed an govt order on Jan. 8 banning using TikTok on state-owned units, claiming that the Chinese authorities is utilizing social media platforms as “intelligence gathering mechanisms.”
Ohio additionally banned different China-based web sites and functions together with Tencent, WeChat, Weibo and DingTalk.
New Jersey introduced a cybersecurity directive on Jan. 9 to bar using “high-risk software” resembling TikTok, Alibaba and WeChat on authorities units.
Arkansas, Wisconsin, Mississippi and North Carolina have additionally barred authorities officers and workers from utilizing TikTok on state-owned units in 2023.
