Mississippi governor bans TikTok from government devices – WTOP News

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — TikTok will likely be banned from all Mississippi-issued authorities units and the state’s community, Gov. Tate Reeves introduced Wednesday in a letter to division and company heads.

The Republican mentioned he issued the directive to safeguard delicate info from the favored social media app, which is owned by personal Chinese language firm ByteDance Ltd. The app’s possession has raised fears that Beijing might use it to scoop up consumer knowledge or push pro-China narratives or misinformation.

Reeves cited issues over “in depth monitoring of consumer knowledge and the potential entry and switch of this knowledge to the Chinese language authorities.”

“It’s no secret that the Chinese language Communist Social gathering is actively making an attempt to steal U.S. mental property and People’ private info,” Reeves mentioned in a information launch. “Mississippi isn’t going to sit down round ready for the Chinese language Communist Social gathering to steal our state authorities knowledge.”

TikTok has mentioned it prioritizes its neighborhood’s privateness and safety and that it’s working to handle safety issues raised by the U.S.

Comparable strikes to ban TikTok on authorities units have been made by prime officers in about one-third of U.S. states, a big share of them Republicans. On Jan. 6, Wisconsin’s Democratic governor introduced he plans to introduce a ban on the usage of TikTok on state telephones. Kansas’ Democratic governor has additionally issued a ban.

Congress not too long ago banned TikTok from most U.S. government-issued units over bipartisan issues about safety.

Reeves’ directive would compel state businesses to make sure no state workers obtain or use TikTok or different software program functions developed by ByteDance on state-issued units. He additionally directed the Mississippi Division of Data Know-how Providers to dam entry to TikTok from the state community.

Mississippi state workers have been directed to take away, delete and uninstall all related functions from state-issued units by Jan. 31.

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Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Related Press/Report for America Statehouse Information Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on undercovered points. Comply with him on Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg.

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