US Governor Bans TikTok from State-Owned Devices
In recent weeks, officials within the Biden administration have finally come to the same conclusions about TikTok that Donald Trump came to years ago: Namely, that the popular video sharing app was being used by the Chinese government to adversely effect American young adults.
The tactics are well-understood; TikTok gathers data on its users, including those in the USA, and then uses that data to pump out algorithmic themes that can influence entire generations of citizens. For instance, the sort of content that gets pushed out to Americans is far dumber than it is for Chinese users of the app, leading some to believe that Beijing is simply attempting to groom our children via TikTok.
This has led at least one US Governor to take drastic measures.
TikTok is now an app non grata on state-owned and state-leased devices in South Dakota. Republican Gov. Kristi Noem signed an executive order Tuesday blocking use of the popular social media app, the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader reports. TikTok downloads and use of the app or the TikTok website are now banned on state devices used by state employees, contractors, and agencies. Noem’s office said the move came “in response to the growing national security threat posed by TikTok due to its data gathering operations on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party,” reports Fox Business. Earlier this year, House lawmakers were urged to avoid using the Chinese-owned app because of potential security issues and concerns about how it handles data.
Noem did not pull any punches.
“South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us,” Noem said in a statement, per the Hill. “The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data off the devices that access the platform.”
The South Dakota lawmaker would go on to express her hopes that other states will follow suit…before it’s too late.
