Gov. Governor

Abbott announced Wednesday’s ban and said he was willing to help state legislators next year in making the ban permanent. He also stated that cybersecurity reforms will be implemented to protect against the Chinese video-sharing app. He said he would like to see the ban extended to devices issued locally.

Abbott wrote to Lt. Governor, “We must cooperate to stop the Chinese government’s attempts to collect, store and distribute Texans’ data and personal information.” Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan.

Abbott stated that he will direct every state agency to ban TikTok devices issued by the government and that each state agency must adopt its own policy regarding the use of the application.

TikTok has 85 million users in the country. The company maintains that the Chinese government never attempted to access these users’ data.

The ban was issued on the same day as a lawsuit was filed by Todd Rokita, the Indiana Attorney General. He accused TikTok of misleading users about China’s data access and exposing children to mature content.

Christopher Wray, FBI Director, raised security concerns earlier this month about TikTok. He said that China could use the app’s data to spy on users.

All of these things are in control of a government which doesn’t share our values and has a mission that is very at odds with the best interests the United States. According to The Associated Press, Wray said that this should concern us.

Since 2020, U.S. officials have attempted to ban TikTok and force it to be sold by ByteDance, the Chinese parent company. ByteDance bought TikTok in 2017 for over $800 million.

According to Wray, U.S. officials are currently in negotiations with the company over a possible deal that would address American security concerns. Both Republicans and Democrats call for an end to the app.