MONTGOMERY— Alabama has joined more than a handful of other states in banning the use of social media app TikTok on government state-owned devices and networks.
Recently, national security officials have warned of the growing threats posed by the video-sharing social media app TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance and potentially subject to Chinese laws allowing its data to be shared with the Chinese Communist Party upon request.
“Protecting the state of Alabama and our citizens’ right to privacy is a must, and I surely don’t take a security threat from China lightly. After we discussed this with our OIT secretary, I came to the no-brainer decision to ban the use of the TikTok app on our state devices and network,” Gov. Kay Ivey said Dec. 8. “I’m no TikTok user, but the evidence speaks for itself, and I want to make sure I’m doing everything we can as a state to stand against this growing security risk.”
Using the app on state IT infrastructure creates vulnerability to infiltration, states Ivey’s memo to state employees.
Ivey has asked the Secretary of IT to update the agency’s policies to prevent TikTok from accessing the state IT network and IT devices, though exceptions will be provided for law enforcement and other essential government uses of the app.
Following FBI director Christopher Wray’s November testimony to the Homeland Security Committee regarding security threats from the app, governors of Maryland, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah have since banned the use of the TikTok app for state government agencies, employees and contractors on government networks or government-issued devices, including cellphones, computers, or any other device capable of internet connectivity.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbot directed the same on Dec. 7, adding his concerns about the app reportedly planning to use TikTok location information to surveil American citizens.
“TikTok harvests vast amounts of data from its users’ devices — including when, where, and how they conduct Internet activity — and offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government,” Abbott said in a letter to state agency leaders. “While TikTok has claimed that it stores U.S. data within the U.S., the company admitted in a letter to Congress that China-based employees can have access to U.S. data.
State legislators in some states are also pushing to ban the use of the app on government devices in their states, while there have also been talks of a federal-level ban of the app.
“TikTok is a malware produced by Communist China to spy on Americans and influence our elections,” said Georgia Sen. Jason Anavitarte, who announced plans Dec. 7 to introduce legislation that would ban the app in Georgia. “…Whether it’s making sure state and local governments don’t use TikTok, or preventing the application from being downloaded in the first place, all options must be on the table…”
Homeland Security and State departments and certain military branches already ban the app on government-issued devices.
