Gov. John Bel Edwards has agreed to a request by Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin to ban the use of the social media app TikTok on all devices under the state’s control, according to a statement released by Ardoin’s office.
Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley has also agreed to ban the social media app on devices under his jurisdiction, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Ardoin urged Edwards to follow his lead last month after Ardoin banned TikTok on devices under his purview, calling the app a threat to Louisianans’ personal privacy data and a potential conduit for espionage.
“In a recent House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, expressed concerns that the popular app TikTok, owned by the Chinese technology company ByteDance, poses a threat to our national security and has the potential to manipulate content,” Ardoin said in his Dec. 19 letter to Edwards.
John Tobler, a spokesman for the secretary of state, told the Louisiana Record in an email that Ardoin’s TikTok announcement has been well received by Louisiana residents as well as domestically and internationally. Edwards’ TikTok ban is also in line with actions already taken by governors in states such as Texas, Virginia and Maryland.
“I am pleased that Gov. Edwards and Superintendent Brumley are following the lead of the Department of State,” Ardoin said in a prepared statement. “Under my leadership, the department has prohibited access to the Chinese-owned TikTok app across all of our networks and devices.”
The use of the app increases the risks of data mining, he added.
Ardoin has also indicated that he is working with state Rep. Daryl Deshotel to pass legislation this year that would codify the ban on TikTok on all state-issued devices.
“TikTok is a clear and present danger to our national security and election integrity,” Deshotel said in a recent statement. “TikTok is a Chinese company with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party. The last thing we need to do is give them access to the data on our state devices.”
Last August, TikTok agreed to pay a $92 million class-action settlement for violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act and federal Video Privacy Protection Act after the app harvested personal data without users’ consent.