Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin banned using a number of Chinese-owned apps, together with TikTok and WeChat, on state authorities units and wi-fi networks on Friday, calling them a menace to nationwide safety.
Youngkin’s govt order covers apps developed by ByteDance and Tencent. Businesses who contract with Virginia should additionally prohibit their use on state-owned units or IT infrastructure.
“TikTok and WeChat data are a channel to the Chinese Communist Party, and their continued presence represents a threat to national security, the intelligence community, and the personal privacy of every single American,” Youngkin, a Republican, mentioned in a press release.
“We are taking this step today to secure state government devices and wireless networks from the threat of infiltration and ensure that we safeguard the data and cybersecurity of state government.”
Youngkin joins a minimum of 14 others governors who’ve taken such an motion, amid requires Congress to additionally ban using the applications on federal authorities units.
The govt order drew reward from one in all Virginia’s Democratic U.S. Senators, Mark Warner, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“TikTok has the stamp of approval of the Chinese Communist Party and it poses a serious national security threat due to its data collection practices and its ability to reach and manipulate Americans. I hope to see more states take action to keep our government technology out of the CCP’s reach,” Warner, a former governor, mentioned in a press release.
TikTok spokesperson Jamal Brown mentioned in an emailed assertion that it was “disappointing that states and some federal officials are promoting falsehoods to ban the platform instead of advancing sound policies to promote U.S. National security interests.”
“Millions of Americans rely on TikTok to grow their small businesses, reach new audiences, and make their livelihoods,” Brown mentioned.