The US government has been increasingly wary of apps that might be used to spy on American citizens, especially TikTok. In response to the fear of having sensitive information fall into the Chinese government's hands, they have also banned the app on government-owned devices in Georgia.
Increasing in Numbers
Georgia is now the 11th state to implement the ban on the short-form video app to protect government officials from data breaches. Although, that was not enough for Governor Kemp, as he prohibited WeChat and Telegram from be used by state agencies.
Among those 11 states were South Dakota, Maryland, Texas, Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah. The US military also participated in the precaution and banned the app from its devices as well.
Kemp raised his concerns about foreign governments like China and Russia spying on users through the apps, as mentioned in Engadget. He mentioned that the state has a responsibility to prevent any attempt to infiltrate secure data and sensitive information.
The governor added that it was their duty to take action to protect the state against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regarding safety and security, as well as the entities and cyberthreats that the foreign governments control.
TikTok May Be Banned Entirely
The app restriction from government-owned devices may just be the beginning. If cybersecurity concerns persist, the app may be banned for all US users altogether. In fact, there is already a bill that aims to do that.
The bill still has many hoops to jump over, but Republican Senator Marco Rubio claimed that the action was long overdue. He claimed that the bill would block and prohibit transactions from social media platforms from China, Russia, or other countries that may pose a threat.
He argued that it didn't have anything to do with the videos and that it was about the app collecting data from tens of millions of Americans every day. The app has about 100 million users in the US.
Caitlin Chin, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the concerns against TikTok are indications of strained relations between the US and China. She believed that a national ban was not likely to happen soon.
Chin also mentioned that the concern regarding the app was based on potential security threats and not evidence and that banning the app does not solve security risks from foreign countries since other websites collect the same data.
Former president Donald Trump already attempted to conduct countermeasures against the app, but judges did not approve of it. President Joe Biden also revoked the ban, which means that he might not approve of the new bill against TikTok as well.
TikTok expressed that the ban was "politically-motivated" and would not do anything for the national security of the US. The company, however, is working on securing the platform and will brief the members of Congress of their plans, as mentioned in BBC.
