Just a few weeks after Republican senator Josh Hawley’s proposal to ban Tiktok on a nationwide scale, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has revealed his plan to ban the platform for all state employees. All Texas state agencies will need to implement plans to ban the platform from employee devices by February 15th. The policy will be enforced on both state-issued devices and personal ones. While Abbott’s announcement on Twitter made it sound like this would apply to all Texas citizens (similar to Hawley’s proposal), the governor’s website clarifies that this would work similar to the current ban on government-issued devices.
“The security risks associated with the use of TikTok on devices used toconduct the important business of our state must not be underestimatedor ignored,” writes Abbott. “Owned by a Chinese company thatemploys Chinese Communist Party members, TikTok harvests significantamounts of data from a user’s device, including details about a user’sinternet activity. Other prohibited technologies listed in the statewidemodel plan also produce a similar threat to the security of Texans. Itis critical that state agencies and employees are protected from thevulnerabilities presented by the use of this app and other prohibitedtechnologies as they work on behalf of their fellow Texans. I thank theTexas Department of Public Safety and Texas Department of InformationResources for their hard work helping safeguard the state’s sensitiveinformation and critical infrastructure from potential threats posed byhostile foreign actors.”
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China’s ownership of TikTok has made it a lightning-rod for controversy over the last few years, earning the platform significant opposition from a number of Republican politicians, including former president Donald Trump. While Hawley’s proposed nationwide ban on TikTok is unlikely to attract the support required, Abbott’s ban on state-issued and personal devices used by government employees should prove to be much easier to enforce.
It’s unclear if these proposals and bans will have any kind of impact on the social media platform’s success. Hawley’s proposal last month focused not only on TikTok’s ownership, but also the impact the platform can have on the mental health of children. However, that proposal neglected to mention other social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, which have similarly had a negative impact on the lives of minors throughout the last decade. For some reason, TikTok has gotten targeted much more in that regard!
Do you think these TikTok bans are a good idea? Doyou think that a nationwide ban will ever happen? Letusknowin the comments or share yourthoughtsdirectly on TwitterandonHive atย @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
