Calls to ban TikTok from government agencies gained momentum after FBI Director Christopher Wray said in November that it posed national security risks.
Kentucky has joined more than 20 US states in banning the popular video application (TikTok) from government agencies due to cybersecurity concerns.
The state said it had updated its personnel directory to prevent state employees from using government-operated devices to access the Chinese-owned app “other than for law enforcement purposes.”
The governors of Wisconsin and North Carolina signed orders banning TikTok from government agencies on Thursday. Ohio, New Jersey and Arkansas took similar measures earlier this week.
Some states have gone further than targeting TikTok. New Jersey and Wisconsin have also banned sellers, products and services from other Chinese companies, including Huawei Technologies Inc, Hikvision Inc, WeChat owner Tencent Holdings Inc, and ZTE Corp. In addition to the Russian company Kaspersky.
Calls to ban TikTok from government agencies gained momentum after FBI Director Christopher Wray said in November that it posed national security risks. Ray pointed to the threat that the Chinese government might harness the app to influence users or control their devices.
TikTok, which has more than 100 million users for three years, has been seeking to reassure Washington that personal data of US citizens cannot be accessed and its contents cannot be manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party or any other entity under Beijing’s control.
President Joe Biden last month approved a government funding bill that includes a ban on federal employees from using or downloading TikTok on government-owned devices.
