Georgia Governor Brian Kemp banned TikTok, WeChat, and Telegram on state-issued devices in a memo sent to state agency heads on Thursday.
“The TikTok software platform has the capability to track and store its users’ highly detailed public and non-public personal information, and the Chinese government is able to access this information under national security laws that require Chinese companies to assist in intelligence work through data sharing and other means. This requirement has already resulted in the CCP [Communist Party of China] influencing TikTok’s content and censorship algorithms to further its own political interests and poses an ongoing threat to the data of all users,” Kemp explained in the memo obtained by 11AliveNews reporter Nick Wooten.
The order applies to all devices “that are issued, owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by the state or used for state business” and includes a ban on products from ByteDance, Tencent Holdings and Telegram.
Kemp is just the latest governor to ban the apps; this week, states including Utah and Alabama made similar moves, Reuters reported. Kemp’s memo also notes that federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, have instituted a ban on TikTok on agency devices. On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) bill to ban TikTok on all government devices, and House Representatives are working on similar legislation.
“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. The CCP poses an ever-present national security threat to the United States and Georgia,” Kemp’s memo states.
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Brian Kemp” by Brian Kemp.
