Video sharing platform TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, was banned from state devices and networks in Alabama and Utah on Monday, amid growing speculation among US government officials over the app’s safety.
Having been banned from state use in Texas, Maryland and South Dakota already, fears have arisen over how data collected through TikTok is used by its Chinese parent company.
“Disturbingly, TikTok harvests vast amounts of data from users, much of which has no legitimate connection to the app’s supposed purpose of video sharing,” wrote Alabama state governor Kay Ivey in a memorandum.
She added that TikTok was “potentially subject to Chinese laws enabling its data to be shared with the Chinese Communist Party”.
Protecting Alabamians' right to privacy is a must, and I surely don’t take a security threat from China lightly.
That's why I have banned the use of the TikTok app on our state devices and network. #alpolitics pic.twitter.com/wS3F3V336h
— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) December 13, 2022
Issuing his own executive order to ban the app, Utah governor Spencer Cox tweeted: “Our administration takes security threats by China and China-based entities seriously.”
On 8 December, TikTok’s head of trust and safety, Cormac Keenan outlined that the app was creating a US data security team, aimed at building “further trust and confidence in the protection of US user data and compliance”.
Our administration takes security threats by China and China-based entities seriously. This is why we’re banning TikTok on all state-owned devices effective immediately. Read more here: https://t.co/Bca3HVya5v pic.twitter.com/Zh1CuEYxnD
— Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox (@GovCox) December 12, 2022
Calls have also come from US Federal Communications Commission members that the app should be completely banned.
The barring of TikTok across US state networks follows allegations in October by Forbes magazine that ByteDance had planned to track the location of an American citizen through data collected by TikTok.
Soon after in November, TikTok confirmed that some of its China-based workers were able to access data from European users.
Based on the concerns, a pilot UK Parliament’s TikTok account was closed in August this year, after senior Conservative politicians who have been sanctioned by China called it to be taken down over data fears.
Last month, TikTok wrote to parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee to insist that it has not shared UK user data with the Chinese government and will not if they are asked.