Kentucky has joined more than 20 US states in banning the popular TikTok video app from government agencies due to cybersecurity concerns.
The state said it updated its personnel handbook to prevent government employees from using government devices to access the Chinese-owned app “except for law enforcement purposes.”
The governors of Wisconsin and North Carolina on Thursday signed executive orders to ban the use of TikTok in government offices. Earlier this week, Ohio, New Jersey, and Arkansas took similar action.
Some states have gone further than TikTok. New Jersey and Wisconsin also banned sellers, products, and services from other Chinese companies, including Huawei Technologies Inc, Hikvision Inc, WeChat owner Tencent Holdings Inc, and ZTE Corp. In addition to the Russian company Kaspersky.
Calls by government agencies to ban TikTok gained momentum after FBI Director Christopher Wray said in November that it posed a national security risk.
Ray pointed to the threat that the Chinese government could use the app to influence users or control their devices.
TikTok, which has over 100 million users in three years, sought to convince Washington that the personal data of American citizens is inaccessible and their content cannot be manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party or any other organization subordinate to Beijing.
Last month, President Joe Biden approved a public funding bill that includes a ban on federal employees from using or downloading TikTok on government devices.
