Governor Greg Abbott last Wednesday ordered all Texas state agencies to ban the use of TikTok on any government- issued devices as the threat of the Chinese Communist Party gaining access to critical U.S. information and infrastructure continues to grow.
In letters to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Speaker Dade Phelan, and state agency leaders, the Governor highlighted the State of Texas’ responsibility to preserve the safety and cybersecurity of Texans, in addition to the federal government’s responsibility for foreign policy issues.
“TikTok harvests vast amounts of data from its users’ devices—including when, where, and how they conduct Internet activity— and offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government,” reads one of the letters.