Maryland has introduced that it’s going to ban the usage of TikTok and several other Chinese and Russian programs in the state government, citing persistent cybersecurity concerns.
Governor Larry Hogan announced an emergency directive Tuesday afternoon asking government workers to remove the popular Chinese-owned video app from their devices.
“There is perhaps no greater threat to our personal security and our national security than the cyber vulnerabilities that underpin our daily lives,” Hogan said in the announcement.
“To further protect our systems, we are issuing this emergency directive against foreign actors and organizations that seek to weaken and divide us.”
In addition to TikTok, the order also banned products from Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corp, Tencent Holdings, Tencent QQ, Alibaba and Kaspersky.
Tencent owns the popular messaging app WeChat. Alibaba owns AliPay, the world’s largest third-party payment platform, which handles more transactions than PayPal and Venmo, mostly in mainland China.
Government employees will now have to remove all software from foreign companies from their devices and, within 14 days, implement restrictions preventing installation or access to their services.
Several federal government officials have sounded similar alarms. FBI Director Christopher Wray has warned that TikTok’s algorithm could be used for “influence operations” against the American public.
“The Chinese government has shown a willingness to steal Americans’ data on a scale that dwarfs any other,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a speech Friday at the University of Michigan.
Maryland is not the first US state to ban the use of the popular app within its government. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem signed a similar order last week.
“The Chinese Communist Party uses the information it collects on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they collect data on devices that access the platform,” Noem said.
Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin are also pressuring their state’s Democratic Governor, Tony Evers, to take similar action.
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