Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford discusses lawmakers’ push to ban TikTok in the US on Fox Business Tonight.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has banned state law enforcement agencies from using TikTok and has joined other Republican governors in cracking down on the popular but Chinese government-affiliated social media app.
The governor on Thursday sent a memo to all heads of Georgia’s state agencies, outlining his concerns about the platform’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party and their potential threat to national security.
“The state of Georgia has a responsibility to prevent any attempt to access and infiltrate its secure data and sensitive information by foreign adversaries such as the CCP,” Kemp wrote. “The CCP poses a pervasive national security threat to the United States and Georgia. Therefore, it is our duty to take measures to keep our state safe from the CCP, organizations controlled by it, and other foreign cyber threats. ”
“Effective immediately, all agencies, departments, departments, offices, boards, agencies and commissions of the executive branch of Georgia are prohibited from using TikTok, WeChat and Telegram on all systems and devices issued, owned, leased or otherwise controlled by the are used by the state or for state business,” the memo reads.
TIKTOK BAN IS NOT IF BUT WHEN
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Mason Mega Rail Station at the Garden City Port Terminal on November 12, 2021 in Garden City, Georgia. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Kemp’s action follows similar executive orders signed by Republican governors who have labeled TikTok a cyber and national security threat.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum banned TikTok on Tuesday, and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan did so last week. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem also banned state employees and contractors from accessing TikTok on state devices, telling Fox News earlier this month that the app puts the personal information of all South Dakota residents, and by extension Americans, at risk.
She said what China is doing to TikTok is comparable to how Twitter manipulated algorithms to advance a political narrative or censor dissenting narrative before Elon Musk, but on a much larger scale.
“It’s so much worse. And they are our enemies. they hate us That’s why it’s so important that other elected officials take action, too,” she said.
LEGISLATORS PROPOSE NATIONAL LEGISLATION THAT WOULD CUT OFF TIKTOK’S ABILITY TO MAKE MONEY IN THE US
The TikTok app logo on the App Store can be seen with the TikTok logo in the background in this illustrative photo taken on July 18, 2021 in Krakow, Poland. (Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The federal legislature has also taken measures. In a rare show of bipartisan consensus, the United States Senate unanimously passed a Republican-led bill that would ban TikTok on government devices.
“TikTok is a Trojan horse for the Chinese Communist Party. It’s a major security risk for the United States, and until it’s forced to completely sever ties with China, it has no place on government devices,” said bill sponsor Sen. Josh Hawley. R-Mo. said. “States in the US ban TikTok on government devices. It’s time Joe Biden and the Democrats help do the same.”
SENATE PASSES LAW THAT WOULD BAN TIKTOK ON GOVERNMENT DEVICES
Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asks a question during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on confirmation at the Dirksen Senate Office Building April 28, 2021 in Washington, DC (Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images/Getty Images)
During a speech at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy on Dec. 2, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Chinese officials have broad access to TikTok, allowing them “to manipulate content and if they want to.” , to use it for influence operations.”
“All of these things are in the hands of a government that doesn’t share our values and that has a mission very contrary to what is in the best interests of the United States. That should worry us,” Wray said
Georgia State Senator Jason Anavitarte, a Republican, has also introduced legislation that would ban TikTok outright in the Peach State, calling it “malware produced by communist China to affect our elections.”
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“Although the app is not operated directly by the Chinese government, its parent company is based in Beijing, and China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law requires all citizens and businesses to help gather information and share any data with the Chinese government ‘ Anavitarte said in a statement last week.
TikTok fought back against the bans on Wednesday, telling Fox Business in a statement, “We are disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok that will do nothing about it.” to improve the national security of the United States.”
TikTok is owned by the China-based company ByteDance.
Fox News’ Charles Creitz, Adam Sabes, and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
