These 30 States Have Banned TikTok on Authorities-Issued Gadgets, Networks
30 states, led by Democrats and Republicans alike, have taken motion to ban the favored Chinese language-owned app TikTok on some or all state-issued units and networks.
1. Nebraska
Then-Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, banned TikTok for state units on Aug. 12, 2020, citing “safety considerations,” Fox Enterprise reported.
“The Chinese language authorities has lengthy engaged in systematic, covert efforts to entry delicate knowledge from U.S. governments, corporations, and people,” Ricketts, whom Republican Gov. Jim Pillen just lately appointed to fill retiring Sen. Ben Sasse’s seat, stated in an announcement on the time. “As an app owned by an organization primarily based in China, TikTok is legally obligated to offer knowledge from its customers to the nation’s communist regime upon request.”
“To keep up the safety of knowledge owned by the state of Nebraska, and to safeguard towards the intrusive cyber actions of China’s communist authorities, we’ve made the choice to ban TikTok on state units,” Ricketts added.
2. South Dakota
Republican Gov. Kristi Noem banned “TikTok for state authorities businesses, workers, and contractors utilizing state units” by means of an govt order on Nov. 29, based on a press launch.
“South Dakota may have no half within the intelligence-gathering operations of countries who hate us,” Noem stated. “The Chinese language Communist Occasion makes use of data that it gathers on TikTok to govern the American folks, they usually collect knowledge off the units that entry the platform.”
“Due to our severe responsibility to guard the non-public knowledge of South Dakota residents, we should take this motion instantly. I hope different states will observe South Dakota’s lead, and Congress ought to take broader motion, as effectively,” Noem added.
3. North Carolina
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper issued an govt order on Jan. 12 “prohibiting the usage of sure purposes and web sites on state units, together with computer systems and cell phones,” based on a press launch.
“It’s vital for us to guard state data know-how from overseas nations which have actively participated in cyberattacks towards the US,” Cooper stated in a press launch. “Defending North Carolina from cyberthreats is significant to making sure the protection, safety, privateness, and success of our state and its folks.”
The order calls on “the state Chief Data Officer (CIO) and the North Carolina Division of Data Know-how (NCDIT) to develop a coverage inside 14 days that prohibits the usage of TikTok, WeChat, and probably different purposes on state company data know-how methods in a fashion that presents an unacceptable cybersecurity danger,” the assertion stated.
4. Wisconsin
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers banned “TikTok and different potential cybersecurity-threatening applied sciences on state-issued units” by means of an govt order on Jan. 11.
“Within the digital age, defending our state’s know-how and cybersecurity infrastructure and defending digital privateness should be a prime precedence for us as a state,” Evers stated in a press launch.
“I belief the professionals who work on this discipline, and it was vital for me to seek the advice of with and get recommendation from consultants in regulation enforcement, cybersecurity, and counterintelligence, together with the data know-how consultants working inside [the Department of Administration’s Division of Enterprise Technology], to make one of the best resolution to guard state applied sciences, and finally, the folks of Wisconsin,” the governor added.
5. South Carolina
Republican Gov. Henry McMaster penned a letter to Marcia Adams, govt director of the Division of Administration, on Dec. 5, “requesting that the social media platform TikTok be completely eliminated, and entry blocked from all state authorities digital units which can be managed by the Division of Administration.”
Within the letter, McMaster additionally wrote:
Defending our state’s crucial cyber infrastructure from overseas and home threats is essential to making sure the well being, security, and well-being of our residents and companies.
Federal regulation enforcement and nationwide safety officers have warned that TikTok poses a transparent and current hazard to its customers, and a rising bipartisan coalition in Congress is pushing to ban entry to TikTok in the US.
6. Maryland
Then-Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, announced on Dec. 6, an “emergency cybersecurity directive to ban the usage of sure Chinese language and Russian-influenced merchandise and platforms for the manager department of state authorities, together with TikTok,” based on a press launch.
“There could also be no higher risk to our private security and our nationwide safety than the cyber vulnerabilities that assist our day by day lives,” stated Hogan, whose eight years in workplace ended Wednesday.
“Because the cyber capital of America, Maryland has taken daring and decisive actions to arrange for and handle cybersecurity threats. To additional defend our methods, we’re issuing this emergency directive towards overseas actors and organizations that search to weaken and divide us,” he added.
7. Texas
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott penned two letters on Dec. 7; one to state Home Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and one other to state company leaders highlighting “the state of Texas’ duty to protect the protection and cybersecurity of Texans, along with the federal authorities’s duty for foreign-policy points,” based on a press launch.
In his letter to Patrick and Phelan, Abbott wrote:
TikTok is a video-sharing cellular utility with greater than 85 million customers in the US. It belongs to a Chinese language firm known as ByteDance Ltd., which employs Chinese language Communist Occasion members and has a subsidiary that’s partially owned by the Chinese language Communist Occasion.
TikTok harvests huge quantities of knowledge from its customers’ units—together with when, the place, and the way they conduct web exercise—and affords this trove of probably delicate data to the Chinese language authorities.
8. Oklahoma
On Dec. 8, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed an govt order “[directing] that no govt department worker or company of the state of Oklahoma shall obtain or use the TikTok utility or go to the TikTok web site on authorities networks or government-issued units, together with state-issued cellphones, computer systems, or every other gadget able to web connectivity, and that TikTok shall be blacklisted from state networks and state-managed units.”
In a press launch, Stitt stated:
Sustaining the cybersecurity of state authorities is important to proceed to serve and defend Oklahoma residents, and we won’t take part in serving to the Chinese language Communist Occasion acquire entry to authorities data.
9. Arkansas
Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, on her first day in workplace on Jan. 10, issued an govt order banning the use, set up, or connection to “TikTok on any state community or state-issued data or communications know-how gadget.”
“The challenges posed by China are significantly acute with respect to data and communications applied sciences. In response to the Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence, China ‘presents the broadest, most energetic, and chronic cyberespionage risk to U.S. authorities and personal sector networks,’” Sanders’ govt order reads.
The order additionally reads:
The video utility often known as TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance Ltd., a Chinese language firm with vital ties to the Chinese language Communist Occasion, is of specific concern.
TikTok can harvest massive quantities of knowledge from units on which it’s put in, together with data concerning when, the place, and the way customers work together with the web.
TikTok has confirmed that China-based workers can entry knowledge concerning the Web exercise of individuals situated in the US.
10. Utah
Republican Gov. Spencer Cox banned TikTok on state-owned units by means of an govt order on Dec. 12.
“China’s entry to knowledge collected by TikTok presents a risk to our cybersecurity,” Cox stated in a media launch. “Consequently, we’ve deleted our TikTok account and ordered the identical on all state-owned units. We should defend Utahns and guarantee that the folks of Utah can belief the state’s safety methods.”
11. Alabama
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey banned TikTok for each state devices and the state network on Dec. 12.
“Disturbingly, TikTok harvests huge quantities of knowledge from its customers, a lot of which has no professional connection to the app’s supposed goal of video sharing,” Ivey wrote in a memorandum to the heads of all state businesses. “For instance, when customers run the TikTok app for the primary time, they provide TikTok entry to data equivalent to their gadget model and mannequin, cellular service, looking historical past, app and file names and kinds, keystroke patterns and rhythms, wi-fi connections, and geolocation.”
12. Mississippi
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves banned TikTok on “all state-issued authorities units and the state’s community” on Jan. 11, based on a press launch.
“It’s no secret that the Chinese language Communist Occasion is actively attempting to steal U.S. mental property and People’ private data. It’s a significant risk to our nationwide safety and significant infrastructure, prices the U.S. economic system tons of of billions yearly, and jeopardizes American jobs,” Reeves stated within the a press launch.
“Mississippi isn’t going to take a seat round ready for the Chinese language Communist Occasion to steal our state authorities knowledge, and that’s why I issued this directive. It is going to assist us higher defend our state’s delicate data and significant infrastructure,” Reeves added.
13. Louisiana
Republican Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin banned TikTok on all Division of State units, and in addition known as on Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, to take related measures to ban the app on “on all units owned or leased by the state of Louisiana,” in a letter he despatched to Edwards on Dec. 19.
“As secretary of state, I’ve the intense duty of defending voters’ personally identifiable data, which is why I’ve taken the step of banning the usage of TikTok on all units owned or leased by my company,” Ardoin wrote to Edwards.
“I wholeheartedly imagine that doing so on a statewide stage would defend our knowledge and reaffirm our dedication to privateness protections for our constituents. Subsequently, I urge you to challenge a directive banning the usage of TikTok on our state authorities’s units with instant impact,” Ardoin added.
14. Indiana
The Indiana Workplace of Know-how banned TikTok for each the state system and units on Dec. 7, The Related Press reported.
In response to Graig Lubsen, Indiana Workplace of Know-how spokesman, “the workplace ‘blocked TikTok from being utilized in our state system and on our state units,” The Journal Gazette reported.
15. Kansas
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly issued an govt order on Dec. 28 that “[banned] the usage of the social media platform TikTok on all state-owned units for Kansas govt department businesses, boards, and commissions and their respective workers, and prohibits entry on the state community,” based on a press launch.
“TikTok mines customers’ knowledge and probably makes it obtainable to the Chinese language Communist Occasion—a risk acknowledged by a rising group of bipartisan leaders throughout the US,” Kelly stated within the press launch.
Kelly issued the manager order “in response to current warnings from each the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Communications Fee that person knowledge from the social media platform TikTok is probably being shared with the Chinese language authorities, posing each a nationwide and cybersecurity risk.”
16. North Dakota
Republican Gov. Doug Burgum issued an govt order on Dec. 13 banning TikTok on “state-owned units issued by govt department businesses, citing rising nationwide safety considerations,” based on a press launch.
“Defending residents’ knowledge is our prime precedence, and our IT professionals have decided, in session with federal officers, that TikTok raises a number of flags by way of the quantity of knowledge it collects and the way that knowledge could also be shared with and utilized by the Chinese language authorities,” Burgum stated.
“Lowering this safety danger is the suitable factor to do, and we might supply [North Dakota Information Technology] assist to help and advise any companion entities that want to pursue related measures,” he added.
17. Iowa
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds banned TikTok on Dec. 13 for “all state-owned units and [prohibited] state businesses from subscribing to or proudly owning a TikTok account,” based on a press launch.
“It’s clear that TikTok represents a nationwide safety danger to our nation, and I refuse to topic the residents of Iowa to that danger,” Reynolds stated within the assertion. “They belief us with their private and confidential data and we are going to take each step doable to guard it, together with from the Chinese language authorities. The protection of Iowans is my [No. 1] precedence, and that features their cybersecurity.”
18. Idaho
Republican Gov. Brad Little signed an govt order on Dec. 14 that banned the app “on state-issued units and networks to guard Idahoans from safety threats posed by the communist Chinese language authorities,” based on a press launch.
“The communist Chinese language authorities can use TikTok to gather crucial data from our state and federal authorities, and we’re taking this step to guard Idahoans and People from the sinister motives of a overseas authorities that doesn’t share our values and seeks to weaken and manipulate our nation,” Little stated. “This new ban to get rid of TikTok from state-issued units and networks will assist defend nationwide safety and Idahoans’ knowledge.”
19. Florida
Florida Chief Monetary Officer Jimmy Patronis banned TikTok on Aug. 11, 2020, for “Division of Monetary Companies (DFS) units and inside DFS amenities,” based on a press launch.
“My prime precedence as Florida’s CFO is to guard our state from fraud and scams, together with all main cybersecurity threats. As we’ve seen with the current unprecedented Twitter hacks, we should take daring motion now to guard our knowledge and our units from these very actual safety dangers,” Patronis stated.
“The risk TikTok presents far outweighs any profit the applying may present to official enterprise of the company, and that’s the reason I’ve determined to instantly ban the applying from DFS units and use of the app inside our amenities,” Patronis added. “With stories of direct ties to the Communist Occasion of China, TikTok is a significant safety danger to the state of Florida and to the US, and it has no place on state units.”
20. Pennsylvania
Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity banned TikTok from Treasury Division units and its methods on Dec. 22.
“Treasury’s pc community is focused by scammers and criminals every single day. TikTok presents a transparent hazard resulting from its assortment of private knowledge and its shut connection to the communist Chinese language authorities,” Garrity stated in a press launch. “Banning TikTok from Treasury units and methods is a vital step in our unending work to make sure the protection of Pennsylvanians’ hard-earned tax {dollars} and different vital, delicate data entrusted to Treasury.”
21. New Jersey
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy banned TikTok for each “state offered and managed units with some exceptions” on Jan. 9.
“Bolstering cybersecurity is crucial to defending the general security and welfare of our state,” Murphy stated in a press launch. “The proactive and preventative measures that we’re implementing right now will make sure the confidentiality, integrity, and security of data property managed by New Jersey state authorities. This decisive motion will make sure the cybersecurity of the state is unified towards actors who might search to divide us.”
22. Virginia
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin banned TikTok for “state units and state-run wi-fi networks” on Dec. 16, based on a press launch.
“TikTok and WeChat knowledge are a channel to the Chinese language Communist Occasion, and their continued presence represents a risk to nationwide safety, the intelligence neighborhood, and the non-public privateness of each single American,” Youngkin stated. “We’re taking this step right now to safe state authorities units and wi-fi networks from the specter of infiltration and make sure that we safeguard the information and cybersecurity of state authorities.”
23. West Virginia
Republican state Auditor J.B. McCuskey and Republican state Senate Majority Whip Ryan Weld banned TikTok on each state networks and units on Dec. 19, based on a statement on Twitter from McCuskey.
“I’m so grateful to work with Senator Weld on this extremely vital initiative. [We] have seen the risk that China and its authorities poses to our crucial infrastructure, and this transfer is a proactive method to guard the taxpayers of West Virginia,” McCuskey stated within the assertion.
24. New Hampshire
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu issued an govt order on Dec. 14 banning TikTok on state issued-devices and networks.
“New Hampshire is becoming a member of the rising checklist of states which have banned TikTok and different Chinese language corporations from state authorities units and networks,” Sununu stated, based on a press launch. “This transfer will assist protect the protection, safety, and privateness of the residents of New Hampshire.”
25. Montana
Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte banned “TikTok on state gear and for state enterprise in Montana” on Dec. 16.
“Authorities’s chief duty is maintaining its residents protected and safe. Use of TikTok on state units poses a big danger to the safety of our state and Montanans’ delicate knowledge,” Gianforte stated, based on a press launch.
“Given these grave safety considerations, efficient instantly, no govt company, board, fee, or different govt department entity, official, or worker of the state of Montana shall obtain or entry TikTok on government-issued units or whereas linked to the state community,” he added.
26. Wyoming
Republican Gov. Mark Gordon banned TikTok on Dec. 15 on “all state digital units and networks,” based on a press launch.
“Sustaining strong cybersecurity is a shared duty, and Wyoming is dedicated to figuring out threats that might affect public security,” Gordon stated. “The potential for overseas governments to entry data collected by TikTok is extraordinarily troubling.”
27. Georgia
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp banned the usage of TikTok by state govt businesses through a memo to all state company heads on Dec. 15, Fox Enterprise reported.
“The state of Georgia has a duty to stop any try to entry and infiltrate its safe knowledge and delicate data by overseas adversaries such because the [Chinese Communist Party],” Kemp stated within the memo.
“The CCP poses an ever-present nationwide safety risk to the US and Georgia. As such, it’s our responsibility to take motion to protect the protection and safety of our state towards the CCP, entities it controls, and different overseas cyberthreats,” Kemp stated, including:
Efficient instantly, all Georgia govt department businesses, departments, divisions, bureaus, boards, authorities, and commissions are prohibited from utilizing TikTok, WeChat, and Telegram on all methods and units which can be issued, owned, leased, or in any other case managed by the state or used for state enterprise.
The memo defined that “related threats” to these discovered with TikTok “have additionally been recognized for Chinese language-owned Tencent Holdings (proprietor of WeChat) and Russian-owned Telegram.”
28. Kentucky
TikTok was banned on state-owned units, besides “for a regulation enforcement goal,” on Jan. 13, Reuters reported.
The social media coverage within the state’s worker handbook now features a part prohibiting the usage of TikTok by each businesses and employees members, WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky, reported.
29. Ohio
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine banned TikTok for “state-owned or state-leased units” by means of an govt order on Jan. 8.
“All state businesses, boards, and commissions shall prohibit the following on any state owned or state-leased gadget succesful of accessing the web: (i) the obtain and/or use of any social media utility, channel, and platform that’s owned by an entity situated in China and (ii) accessing the web site of any social media utility, channel, and platform that’s owned by an entity situated in China,” the manager order stated.
“All state businesses, boards, and commissions are prohibited from utilizing social media purposes, channels, and platforms which can be owned by an entity situated in China,” the manager order acknowledged, including:
Such purposes and platforms embody, however usually are not restricted to, TikTok, Tencent QQ, Tencent Video, QQ Worldwide (QQi), Qzone, WeChat, Weibo, Xiao HongShu, Zhihu, Meituan, Toutiao, Alipay, Xiami Music, Tiantian Music, DingTalk/Ding Ding, Douban, RenRen, Youku/Tudou, Little Crimson E book, and Zhihu.
30. Maine
Maine Data Know-how issued a directive banning TikTok for govt department workers on “any state-issued or private Deliver Your Personal Machine (BYOD) cellular units linked to state gear or methods,” WGME-TV reported.
“As of February 1st, 2023, the usage of coated applied sciences is prohibited to be used on any state-issued or private Deliver Your Personal Machine (BYOD) cellular units linked to state gear or methods,” the directive stated. “If beforehand put in, any coated know-how have to be instantly uninstalled to circumvent any publicity of delicate data. Failure to fulfill the necessities of this directive might end in disciplinary motion as much as and together with termination.”
The directive additionally stated:
In accordance with MaineIT Cybersecurity Directive 2023-01, the next coated know-how is topic to the Directive: TikTok, which describes the social networking service TikTok or any successor utility or service developed or offered by ByteDance Restricted or an entity owned by ByteDance Restricted.
TikTok’s Response
A TikTok spokesperson lamented the assorted states’ strikes to ban the app on government-issued units.
“We’re upset that so many states are leaping on the political bandwagon to enact insurance policies that may do nothing to advance cybersecurity of their states and are primarily based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok,” the spokesperson informed The Every day Sign in an e-mail. “TikTok is liked by hundreds of thousands of People, and it’s unlucky that the various state businesses, places of work, universities, pupil teams, and sports activities groups in these states will now not be capable of use TikTok to construct communities and share data.”
The assertion added:
We’re persevering with to work with the federal authorities to finalize an answer that may meaningfully handle any safety considerations which have been raised on the federal and state stage.
These plans have been developed beneath the oversight of our nation’s prime nationwide safety businesses—plans that we’re effectively underway in implementing—to additional safe our platform in the US, and we are going to proceed to transient lawmakers on them.
This text is likely to be up to date ought to extra states transfer to ban TikTok for state-issued units.
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