NYC Bans TikTok on Government Devices
By Movieguide® Contributor
New York City has banned the use of TikTok on any government-owned devices, citing safety concerns.
The ban was implemented after the city’s Cyber Command concluded that TikTok “posed a security threat to the city’s technical networks,” a City Hall spokesperson told WNBC.
The NYC ban follows multiple state governments and the federal government that have banned the app from their devices over concerns about TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. Policymakers fear the Chinese-owned ByteDance could harvest sensitive data and share it with the Chinese government, CNBC reported.
Earlier this year, congress held multiple hearings to decide if the security risk posed by the app would extend to the entire nation, requiring a ban across all of America. Despite the FBI director stating that China is already using TikTok to sow division in America, concerns over the app have been forgotten since the Congressional hearings occurred in March.
The ban of the app on NYC government devices comes with a significant impact as it removes access to two popular city accounts. The city’s sanitation department had over 47,000 followers, and the police department had 270,000 followers.
“Due to a policy change, this account is no longer active. Please follow us on our other social media accounts,” the police department wrote in its final post.
“While social media is great at connecting New Yorkers with one another and the city, we have to ensure we are always using these platforms in a secure matter,” a city spokesperson told NPR.
This sentiment is shared by the other governmental bodies that have chosen to ban the app on their devices.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Montana’s state legislature passed a bill last Friday that would fully ban TikTok in its state starting in 2024; Gov. Greg Gianforte has yet to state if he will sign the bill into law.
“The People’s Republic of China is an adversary of the United States and Montana and has an interest in gathering information about Montanans, Montana companies and the intellectual property of users to engage in corporate and international espionage,” the bill said.
“[The Chinese Government] exercises control and oversight over ByteDance, like other Chinese corporations, and can direct the company to share user information, including real-time physical locations of users,” the bill continued.
“TikTok fails to remove, and my even promote, dangerous content that directs minors to engage in dangerous activities,” the bill added.
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