Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) wants TikTok off all state-issued devices to "preserve the safety and cybersecurity of Texans."
The governor on Wednesday ordered all state agencies to ban the use of or downloading of TikTok on any government-issued device, including phones, laptops, tablets, computers, or any other device capable of connecting to the internet.
Abbott cited concerns over the app being partially owned by the Chinese Communist Party and because it offers a "trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government."
The governor on Wednesday sent letters to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, House Speaker Dade Phelan and the leaders of state agencies announcing his directive.
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"TikTok harvests vast amounts of data from its users' devices-including when, where, and how they conduct Internet activity-and offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government," reads one of the letters. "While TikTok has claimed that it stores U.S. data within the U.S., the company admitted in a letter to Congress that China-based employees can have access to U.S. data. It has also been reported that ByteDance planned to use TikTok location information to surveil individual American citizens. Further, under China's 2017 National Intelligence Law, all businesses are required to assist China in intelligence work including data sharing, and TikTok's algorithm has already censored topics politically sensitive to the Chinese Communist Party, including the Tiananmen Square protests."
The governor's order regarding the app being banned on state-issued devices is effective immediately and "is to be strictly enforced by an agency's IT department." Abbott said he plans to codify his directive with legislation during the next session which begins on Jan. 10, 2023.
Earlier this month FBI Director Chris Wray raised national security concerns about TikTok, warning on Dec. 2 that control of the popular video-sharing app is in the hands of a Chinese government “that doesn't share our values.”
Wray said the FBI was concerned that the Chinese had the ability to control the app’s recommendation algorithm, “which allows them to manipulate content, and if they want to, to use it for influence operations.” He also asserted that China could use the app to collect data on its users that could be used for traditional espionage operations.
Abbott on Wednesday also ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of Information Resources "to develop a model plan for other state agencies that would address vulnerabilities presented by the use of TikTok on personal devices by Jan. 15, 2023."
Both agencies would then be expected to implement their own policies governing the use of TikTok on personal devices by Feb. 15, 2023.
