TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., is currently partially or fully restricted on government computers in 19 of the 50 U.S. states. The majority of the limitations began within the last two weeks.
As a result of worries that China would use TikTok to follow Americans and restrict content, state agencies in Louisiana and West Virginia were the first on Monday to prohibit its usage on devices under their control.
Since the middle of this year, the government customers of Jamf Holding Corp, which offers software to businesses to enable filtering and security measures on iPhones and other Apple devices, have increasingly barred access to TikTok. Last week, some congressmen suggested an international ban, which would follow nations like India that have already outlawed its usage.
Approximately 65% of attempted connections to TikTok have been blocked this month on devices controlled by Jamf's public sector clients worldwide, including school districts and various other agencies, according to the business.
In June, only 10% of connections had been blocked. In a statement reiterating an earlier one, TikTok said it was "disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States."
In Louisiana, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin claimed to have blocked TikTok on all the devices that belong to his office, citing potential security risks but failing to mention any actual problems. State auditor for West Virginia, JB McCuskey, claimed he followed suit for his organization. A national security agreement that would resolve worries about China's access to the data on TikTok's more than 100 million American users has been the subject of months of discussions between U.S. officials and TikTok.
In a statement last month, FBI Director Chris Wray claimed that TikTok might be used for espionage and that Beijing may manipulate the platform's algorithm to support "influence operations" in the U.S.
Officials from the Biden administration are attempting to figure out whether it is possible to set up a company structure that would permit TikTok to function in the U.S. but with safeguards that would prevent the Chinese government from obtaining access to the personal information of American users.
The Senate's action, according to Emily Kilcrease, a technology and Cfius expert at the CNAS think group, was not unexpected given the growing amount of legislative worry over how Beijing could abuse the app.
