Is Wisconsin going to protect state systems from Chinese hackers?
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed state agencies on Wednesday to ban the use of social media platform TikTok on government-issued devices over concerns about how the China-owned app handles data on American infrastructure and other sensitive information.
“TikTok harvests vast amounts of data from its users’ devices — including when, where and how they conduct internet activity — and offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government,” Abbott said in a letter to state officials on Wednesday.
TikTok has faced growing scrutiny from state and federal officials over fears that American data could fall into the possession of the Chinese government.
The state’s six Republican congressional lawmakers — U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher, Scott Fitzgerald, Glenn Grothman, Bryan Steil and Tom Tiffany — sent a letter Tuesday urging Evers to “lead by example and delete TikTok from your own devices.”
South Carolina, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Maryland have also banned it from gov use.
What would be the purpose of having Tik Tok on a state phone in the first place?