TikTok may get further US state government bans over alleged “spying” threat

TikTok may get banned from New York state government devices over an alleged “spying” threat, following in the footsteps of other US states.

On December 6, 2022, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued a statewide ban on TikTok that prevents government officials from installing the popular app.

Governor Hogan issued the ban due to alleged cybersecurity issues, such as a “spying” threat.

New York may be following the trend as well, as a new bill introduced would ban government employees from downloading TikTok on state-issued devices.

New York may ban state employees from TikTok

Filed on December 9 in the New York state senate, the law was created to amend the state’s existing technology law.

The purpose of the bill is to “reduce the potential security threats posed by the use of TikTok, a Chinese-owned social media platform, on government devices.”

To explain why they justify the action, the lawmaker explained that the platform extracts a “vast amount of data from over 135 million users in the United States” and that the government has been concerned about how the data is used.

nysenate.gov

“TikTok denies that it shares data with the Chinese government. However, the Chinese government could force TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, to share the data it collects on its users pursuant to Chinese national security laws that require companies operating in China to share their data with the government upon request,” they added.

If passed, this ban would follow in the footsteps of the US Military as well as the states of Texas, Maryland, South Dakota, South Carolina, and Nebraska.

It would still allow the general public to access the short-form video app, however.