Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies to ban the use of TikTok on their electronic devices for fear the Chinese government will obtain sensitive information through the app, the president’s office announced Wednesday.
Last week, FBI Director Chris Wray stated that China could use the platform to collect information about its users that could be used for espionage purposes.
In addition, last month a researcher from the conservative Heritage Foundation called on the government to ban TikTok from operating in the United States.
In this way, Texas joins other states in addressing the information security risks presented by the platform.
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On Tuesday, Maryland announced that it was banning the use of TikTok and other Chinese and Russian platforms in its executive branch; and last week, South Dakota banned state employees and contractors from using TikTok on state devices.
The US military also banned the app on military devices.
“The danger of the Chinese Communist Party infiltrating the United States continues to grow on several fronts,” Abbott wrote to the heads of state agencies.
“While the federal government has ultimate responsibility in foreign policy matters, the state also has a responsibility and an opportunity to protect itself.”
The governor also wrote to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Coordinator Dade Phelan urging them to pass laws to “safeguard our state against threats like TikTok,” including translating his instructions into regulations for state agencies and one for local governments. .
Governor Abbott instructed state agencies to “strictly” enforce the ban on their officers and employees downloading or using TikTok on cell phones, laptops, tablets, or any other government electronic device that connects to the internet.
He noted that exceptions can be made when it comes to research or fair use.
Abbott also directed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the state Department of Information Resources to develop a model plan for state agencies to fix vulnerabilities in TikTok usage on personal devices by January 15, and that agencies implement their own policies by February 15.
“TikTok collects vast amounts of information about users’ devices, including where, when, and how they perform activities on the internet, and provides that body of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government,” Abbott wrote.
While there has been much debate about whether the Chinese government collects information through TikTok, it’s clear the app carries a risk, said Holden Triplett, a former FBI officer who worked in Beijing and in counterintelligence.
Since the company that owns TikTok, ByteDance, is Chinese, it would have to comply with any requests for information from Chinese security and intelligence authorities, such as location and contacts of employees, he said.
A TikTok spokesman, Jamal Brown, said the bans “are motivated more than anything by misinformation about our company.”
“We are always in the best position to meet with state legislators to discuss our privacy and security practices,” Brown said.
“We are disappointed that the many state agencies, offices and universities that have been using TikTok to build communities and connect with their citizens will no longer have access to our platform.”
Vanessa Pappas, TikTok’s chief operating officer, said the company protects all of its American users’ information and the Chinese government does not have access to it.
Former President Donald Trump ordered sweeping crackdowns on Chinese tech companies, but the White House under President Joe Binden replaced them with less drastic measures.
US officials and the company are in talks about a possible deal that would resolve US security reservations.
However, other experts say that the supposed danger that TikTok represents has been overstated.
In a November 14 commentary on the Strategic Technologies Program, James A. Lewis, a former diplomat and cybersecurity expert, said the risk posed by TikTok to national security “has been overstated.”
“It is routine for intelligence agencies to comb social media to gather biographical information, and they do so without having to own TikTok (or any other social media platform),” Lewis wrote.
“The question is: How much more does China get from having access to TikTok data that cannot be obtained publicly? There is probably some benefit, but it would be small.”