Mississippi governor bans TikTok from government devices
Jackson –
TikTok will likely be banned from all Mississippi-issued authorities gadgets and the state’s community, Gov. Tate Reeves introduced Wednesday in a letter to division and company heads.
The Republican mentioned he issued the directive to safeguard delicate data from the favored social media app, which is owned by non-public Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd. The app’s possession has raised fears that Beijing may use it to scoop up person knowledge or push pro-China narratives or misinformation.
Reeves cited issues over “extensive tracking of user data and the potential access and transfer of this data to the Chinese government.”
“It’s no secret that the Chinese Communist Party is actively trying to steal U.S. intellectual property and Americans’ personal information,” Reeves mentioned in a news launch. “Mississippi isn’t going to sit around waiting for the Chinese Communist Party to steal our state government data.”
TikTok has mentioned it prioritizes its neighborhood’s privateness and safety and that it’s working to handle safety issues raised by the U.S.
Similar strikes to ban TikTok on authorities gadgets have been made by high officers in about one-third of U.S. states, a big share of them Republicans. On Jan. 6, Wisconsin’s Democratic governor introduced he plans to introduce a ban on using TikTok on state telephones. Kansas’ Democratic governor has additionally issued a ban.
Congress just lately banned TikTok from most U.S. government-issued gadgets over bipartisan issues about safety.
Reeves’ directive would compel state businesses to make sure no state workers obtain or use TikTok or different software program purposes developed by ByteDance on state-issued gadgets. He additionally directed the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services to dam entry to TikTok from the state community.
Mississippi state workers have been directed to take away, delete and uninstall all related purposes from state-issued gadgets by Jan. 31.
Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on undercovered points. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg.
