On Tuesday, the governor of South Dakota issued an executive order prohibiting state agencies, workers, and contractors from using government-issued devices to access TikTok, claiming “the escalating national security threat” that the Chinese-owned social media network poses. The order goes into effect immediately.
“South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us,” Gov. Kristi Noem said in a press release. “The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data of the devices that access the platform.”
It’s unknown how many, if any, state personnel used TikTok on government-owned equipment. However, Noem is the most recent lawmaker to call for stricter measures to be implemented against the well-known short-form video app with the move, potentially gaining some political capital in the process.
TikTok has come under fresh fire this year
This year, TikTok has come under fresh fire due to a Buzzfeed News investigation from June that claimed certain US user data had been frequently accessed from China. Leaked audio recordings of numerous internal TikTok meetings were used in the story, including one in which a TikTok employee is reported to have said, “Everything is seen in China.”
According to a prior statement in reaction to the revelation, TikTok “has continuously maintained that our engineers in places outside of the US, including China, can be permitted access to US user data on an as-needed basis under those rigorous safeguards.” In testimony given last year to a Senate committee, a TikTok official stated that the company does not share information with the Chinese government and that a US-based security team determines who is permitted access to US user data coming from China.
“Because of our serious duty to protect the private data of South Dakota citizens, we must take this action immediately,” Noem said. “I hope other states will follow South Dakota’s lead, and Congress should take broader action, as well.”