Governor Abbott announces plan banning use of TikTok
Texas universities have begun to enforce the removal of the popular social media app, TikTok, from all government-issued devices following Governor Greg Abbott’s ban, which he proposed in a letter to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Speaker Dade Phelan, December 7th.
Abbott plans to combat cyber-security threats posed by the Chinese company ByteDance, which owns the platform and all of the information it contains.
“Effective immediately, I have ordered every state agency in Texas to ban TikTok on any state-issued devices,” writes Abbott in his letter. “TikTok harvests vast amounts of data from its users’ devices—including when, where, and how they conduct internet activity—and offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government.”
The video-sharing app, which became extremely popular during the lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic, is best known for its viral dance trends, which have captivated the attention of over 85 million users in the United States. The algorithm curates a “for-you” page for each user, flooding their feed with content relevant to their interests and unique community niches. Though the app has continued to increase in popularity in recent years, 19 states, now including Texas, have placed bans against the app on all government-issued devices.
“Each state agency will have until February 15, 2023, to implement its own policy governing the use of TikTok on personal devices, subject to approval by the DPS Cyber Security division,” wrote Abbott.
This ban includes the University of Houston-Clear Lake and its multiple departments.
For now, government employees or contractors may not conduct state business on personal devices that have the app, and the app must be removed from all government-issued devices immediately. This ban will remain in effect until the Texas Legislative Council approaches the
topic during its 2023 session, which will run from January 10 through May 29.
As of January 26, the Texas Department of Public Safety has issued a model security plan for prohibited technologies which outlines a more comprehensive explanation of the ban along with a complete list of other banned software and hardware. Each state department must have its own plan to enforce this policy by February.
