Governors of New Jersey and Ohio Ducked Ban TikTok on US Government Devices

The governors of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, and staff. (photo: Twitter @GovMurphy)

JAKARTA – The United States' fear of TikTok is growing. Now the states of New Jersey and Ohio announced on Monday January 9 that they joined other states in banning the use of the TikTok app on government-owned and managed devices.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said in addition to banning Chinese tech conglomerate ByteDance's short video app from state equipment, he was also banning software, product and service vendors from more than a dozen vendors including Huawei, Hikvision, Tencent Holdings LTD, ZTE Corporation and Kaspersky Lab.

They said "there are national security concerns about user data that the Chinese government may solicit from ByteDance."

I'm issuing a cybersecurity directive to prohibit the use of high-risk software and services, including TikTok, on State provided or managed devices with some exceptions — ensuring the confidentiality, integrity & safety of State information.

Learn more: https://t.co/6mtvbwhcpl

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) January 9, 2023

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, also said in his order "these surreptitious cybersecurity and data privacy practices pose a national and local security and cybersecurity threat to users of these applications and platforms and the devices storing applications and platforms."

Meanwhile, TikTok did not immediately comment to Reuters on the report.

Last Friday, the Governor of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, also said he plans to join other states in banning the use of the popular video app which has more than 100 million users in the US.

The Republican governor has led the charge to ban TikTok from state fixtures and some Democratic governors have been slower to do so.

Calls to ban TikTok from government devices intensified after US FBI Director Christopher Wray said in November that it posed a national security risk. Wray flagged the threat that the Chinese government could use the app to influence users or control their devices.

Reuters reported on Friday, January 6 that TikTok had delayed its hiring process for a consultant who would help it implement a potential security agreement with the United States, said two people familiar with the matter, as more US officials oppose such a deal.

For three years, TikTok has been trying to convince Washington that personal data of US citizens cannot be accessed and its content cannot be manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party or any other entity under Beijing's influence.