TikTok has been banned from state-owned devices in Texas, as the state governor ordered all agencies to ban employees from downloading or using the application on cellphones, tablets, and desktop computers at work.
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In this photo illustration, the social media application logo, TikTok is displayed on the screen of an iPhone on an American flag background on August 3, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. - The US Senate voted on August 6, 2020, 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.
In this photo illustration, the social media application logo, TikTok is displayed on the screen of an iPhone on an American flag background on August 3, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. - The US Senate voted on August 6, 2020, 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.
Banning TikTok from State-Owned Devices
State-owned devices like cell phones, tablets, and desktop computers are already prohibited from accessing TikTok in Texas. In an order released by Governor Greg Abbott, TikTok has been banned from state-owned devices that are strictly enforced by an IT department of the state, effective to all of the agencies.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Abbott stated in a letter that TikTok has been harvesting a lot of data from its users' devices, like internet activity. This issue has been a growing concern, not only to Texas but to other states as well.
This comes as the threat of the Chinese Communist Party gaining access to US citizens' data information since TikTok is owned by a China-based company Bytedance Ltd. "It has also been reported that ByteDance planned to use TikTok location information to surveil individual American citizens," Abbott added.
While TikTok has already cleared that US data is stored within the United States, the company admitted that China-based employees can still access the US data. Aside from this, all businesses are required to assist China in intelligence work, like data sharing, under China's 2017 National Intelligence Law.
Direct Joint Action
Aside from the ban, Abbott also ordered direct joint action by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of Information Resources to develop a strategy and model plan for other state agencies that would solve the presented vulnerabilities of TikTok by January 15, 2023.
Based on the press release from the Office of the Texas Governor, each state agency is expected to implement its own policy regarding the use of TikTok on personal devices until February 15, 2023.
Concerns from Other States
Because of this, more than 85 million users in the United States are in danger of this threat, hence, the executive orders released by several states. Similar actions were also implemented by South Carolina, Maryland, and South Dakota over the past few weeks.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem signed an executive order last month that disallows employees of the states from using or downloading TikTok on state-owned devices. The EO took effect immediately as several employees and contractors had already lost access to the app the same day.
Despite these bans, TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Si Chew remains confident that the company will come up with a solution as soon as possible for this issue to conclude. Chew think that this problem between the US Government and the company is solvable.
Related Article: TikTok Stays Confident in Reaching a Solution with US Authorities' Concern Regarding Data Protection, CEO Says
