New Jersey and Ohio have banned TikTok on government-owned devices over national security concerns — bringing the list of US states that have banned TikTok to well over 20.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced that the state had issued a cybersecurity directive to “prohibit the use of high-risk software and services, including TikTok, on State provided or managed devices.”
Mike DeWine, Ohio’s Governor, issued an Executive Order on the same day saying that TikTok had been banned from state government, employee, and contractor devices “to protect Ohio private
companies, government entities, and citizens from cybersecurity vulnerabilities and threats.”
The Order was necessary, according to DeWine because “under China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, businesses located in China are required to assist the Chinese government in intelligence work, including data sharing with the Chinese Communist Party”.
Wisconsin’s Governer, Tony Evers, also said that he planned to join other states in banning TikTok from state owned devices, as well.
A spokesperson for TikTok told TechCrunch that it was “disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies that will do nothing to advance cybersecurity in their states and are based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok.”
The spokesperson also said that it was working with the US federal government on a solution that will “meaningfully address security concerns that have been raised at the federal and state level.”
However, other legislators from around the US have been pushing to ban TikTok at a national level. Florida Senator Marco Rubio even proposed legislation that would ban the app to prevent the app’s “unique ability to monitor more than 1 billion users worldwide, including nearly two-thirds of American teenagers.”
Two years ago, India banned TikTok entirely citing a law that allows the government to block websites and apps in the interest of the country’s “sovereignty and integrity.”
There have been calls from some in Australia, including Liberal Senator James Paterson, to ban TikTok entirely. However, as it stands, no action has been taken.
