‘Sinister motives’: Idaho Gov. Little bans TikTok on state networks, devices
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has issued an executive order banning TikTok, the popular video app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, from state-issued devices and networks.
Little, a Republican, on Wednesday said the order would protect Idahoans from security threats posed by the Chinese government, after the FBI warned last month that state actors could use the app to spy on Americans.
“The communist Chinese government can use TikTok to collect critical information from our state and federal government, and we are taking this step to protect Idahoans and Americans from the sinister motives of a foreign government that does not share our values and seeks to weaken and manipulate our country,” Little said in a news release.
Idaho becomes the 14th state to ban TikTok on employee devices, according to the website Government Technology. All 14 states are led by Republican governors.
Little’s order prohibits downloading the app or accessing the TikTok website on state-issued devices, including cell phones, laptops, tablets and other devices that connect to the internet. Little directed the state’s information technology office to block any attempts to access TikTok on a state device or network.
Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Monday issued a similar order, which allowed exceptions for Utah schools, its legislative and judicial branches and state offices of the attorney general, auditor and treasurer.
Little’s executive order provides explicit exceptions only for “bona fide investigatory or law enforcement purposes.”
A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers this week introduced legislation to block all transactions from social media companies in, “or under the influence of,” China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.
“This isn’t about creative videos — this is about an app that is collecting data on tens of millions of American children and adults every day,” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said in a news release.
Media representatives for TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This story was originally published December 15, 2022 at 2:51 PM.
