Texas BANS TIKTOK From Government Devices, JOINING Several Other States

… Gov. Greg Abbott on Dec. 7 ordered all state agencies

… ban video sharing app TikTok on all government-issued devices

… joining several Republican-led states in doing the same

… growing threat of “the Chinese Communist Party gaining access to critical U.S. information and infrastructure.”

… “TikTok harvests vast amounts of data from its users’ devices—including when, where, and how they conduct Internet activity

… offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government,”

… the company admitted in a letter to Congress that China-based employees can have access to U.S. data 

… “under China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, all businesses are required to assist China in intelligence work”

… including data sharing

… has already censored topics politically sensitive to the Chinese Communist Party, including the Tiananmen Square protests

… Per the ban, state officers and employees are immediately barred from downloading or using TikTok on any government-issued devices

… This includes “cell phones, laptops, tablets, desktop computers, and other devices capable of Internet connectivity.”

… With regard to personal devices, Abbott ordered … by Jan. 15, 2023

… a model plan to address “vulnerabilities presented by the use of TikTok on personal devices.”

… The governor also stipulated that each state agency will have until Feb. 15, 2023, to implement its own policy over the use of TikTok on personal devices

… South Dakota, South Carolina, and Maryland did so in recent weeks

… Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines … parents should also be concerned about their children using the app

… “tracks cell phone users’ data, including user location data, and users’ keystrokes, even when not even using the app,” … “even blackmail or pressure them based on this information,”