FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky has joined a growing list of states in banning social media app TikTok from government-issued devices.
The state's employee handbook has been updated to reflect the app's ban saying TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance Limited, may not be used "other than for a law enforcement purpose."
A representative from Kentucky's Personnel Cabinet said the new changes have been under considerations for "several weeks."
"The change was made based on recent federal legislation, as well as information from federal law enforcement," the spokesperson said.
The ban does not apply to an employee's personal use on personal devices.
A similar ban in Indiana went into effect last December.
WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS ABOUT TIKTOK?
ByteDance Ltd. moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020. It has been targeted by critics who say the Chinese government could access user data, such as browsing history and location.
U.S. armed forces also have prohibited the app on military devices.
TikTok is consumed by two-thirds of American teens and has become the second-most popular domain in the world.
Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have warned that TikTok user data could be shared by owner ByteDance Ltd. with China’s authoritarian government. U.S. officials also worry that the Chinese government might use TikTok to push pro-China narratives or misinformation.
Fears were stoked by news reports last year that a China-based team improperly accessed data of U.S. TikTok users, including two journalists, as part of a covert surveillance program to ferret out the source of leaks to the press.
There are also concerns that the company is sending masses of user data to China, in breach of stringent European privacy rules.
Additionally, there's been concern about TikTok’s content and whether it harms teenagers’ mental health.
WHO HAS PUSHED FOR RESTRICTIONS?
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump and his administration sought to ban dealings with TikTok’s owner, force it to sell off its U.S. assets and remove it from app stores.
Courts blocked Trump’s efforts to ban TikTok, and President Joe Biden rescinded Trump’s orders after taking office but ordered an in-depth study of the issue. A planned sale of TikTok’s U.S. assets was shelved.
In Congress, concern about the app has been bipartisan.
Congress last month banned TikTok from most U.S. government-issued devices over bipartisan concerns about security.
The Senate in December approved a version of the TikTok ban authored by conservative Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a vocal critic of big tech companies.
But Democratic U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, of Illinois has co-sponsored legislation to prohibit TikTok from operating in the U.S. altogether, and the measure approved by Congress in December had the support of Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
WHAT DOES TIKTOK SAY?
“We’re 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,” Jamal Brown, a spokesperson for TikTok, said in an emailed statement.
TikTok is developing security and data privacy plans as part of an ongoing national security review by President Joe Biden’s administration.
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