Due to national security concerns, Alabama and Utah joined other US states on Monday to ban the short video-sharing app TikTok on state government computers and devices.
The actions were done in response to concerns raised by FBI Director Chris Wray last month that the Chinese government would tamper with the app's recommendation system or gather information on millions of American users that could be used in influence operations.
“Disturbingly, TikTok harvests vast amounts of data, much of which has no legitimate connection to the app’s supposed purpose of video sharing. Using TikTok involving state IT infrastructure thus creates an unacceptable vulnerability to Chinese infiltration operations,” Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama made the following comment in a statement.
She also issued an order to all agencies under the jurisdiction of the executive branch to stop TikTok from gaining access to classified information.
The company released a statement saying they were “disappointed” that so many states were passing laws based on “unfounded, politically tinged falsehoods” about TikTok.
As of Monday, at least nine states have taken action against TikTok “based on the serious security threats it presents,” according to a tweet from Brendan Carr, commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.
Texas, Maryland, and South Dakota are among the other U.S. states that have prohibited the use of TikTok on government-owned computers and mobile devices.
The state of Indiana has also filed suit against the app, claiming that it exposes minors to adult material and misleads users about China’s access to their data.
In 2020, then-President Trump tried to prevent new Americans from downloading the apps WeChat and TikTok, effectively ending the use of both services in the United States. However, his efforts were repeatedly struck down in court.
In June 2021, President Joe Biden rescinded Trump’s executive orders prohibiting app downloads and ordered the Commerce Department to investigate any threats posed by the software.