Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia Among 18 States Banning Social Media App TikTok from State Devices

Following South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem’s lead, nearly half of U.S. states have put restrictions on or banned the use of Chinese-based social media app TikTok.

At least 19 states have banned TikTok on government-issued devices – Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

Other states are considering suing the social media app for its data policies. Indiana was the first to do so this month, alleging TikTok exposes minors to inappropriate content and makes user data accessible to China.

The governors and attorneys general are taking action because of ties between the social media app’s parent company, ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party and warnings from U.S. intelligence that it poses threats to national security and individual privacy.

TikTok released a statement earlier in December according to Reuters which stated that it was “disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States.”

However, TikTok has acknowledged that its non-U.S. employees had access to data of U.S. users and has told lawmakers that it’s working to protect that data…. (Excerpt from The Virginia Star)