New Jersey and Ohio said Monday they are joining other states in banning the use of. The popular video app TikTok on government-owned and operated devices.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. A Democrat, said besides to banning a short-video app owned by. Chinese tech company ByteDance from state devices. He was banning software vendors, products and services from more. Than a dozen vendors, including Huawei, Hikvision. , Tencent, ZTE and Kaspersky Lab.
Murphy’s office said there are “national security concerns about user data. That the Chinese government may provide to ByteDance.“
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican. Said in his order that “these confidential data privacy and. cybersecurity practices pose a national and local security and cybersecurity. Threat to users of these applications and platforms and. The devices that host the applications and platforms.”
TikTok said it was “disappointed . That many states have jumped on the political bandwagon to enact policies. that will do nothing to advance cybersecurity in . Their states and are based on baseless lies about TikTok.”
On Friday, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said he plans to join other states in banning the use of. The popular video app, which has more than 100 million US users.
Republican governors have led the charge to ban. TikTok from state devices, and some Democratic governors have been slow to do so.
Calls to ban TikTok from government devices gained steam after FBI Director Christopher . Wray said in November it posed a national security risk. Wray flagged the threat that the Chinese government could use . The app to influence users or control their devices.
Reuters reported Friday that TikTok has put on hold a hiring process for consultants. That would help it put in place a potential security agreement with . The United States, two people familiar with the matter said, as more U.S. officials oppose such a deal.
For three years. TikTok has been seeking to assure Washington that the personal data of. U.S. citizens cannot be accessed and . its content cannot be manipulated by China’s Communist Party or. Any other entity under Beijing’s influence.
