The Kentucky Senate has voted unanimously to prohibit the use of TikTok on any state government network or any state government-issued device. Henderson Senator Robby Mills told his colleagues Friday morning multiple media outlets have reported the Chinese-owned company mines huge amounts of private data.
“We need to protect the data that exists on state government devices. And one very practical way of doing this is to remove a known data mining app from all the state of Kentucky’s digital devices and computers,” said Mills.
The Henderson lawmaker said nearly half of all states have already banned TikTok from government devices. Mills said Congress has taken that step as well. He said the top federal law enforcement agency has warned of serious implications found in TikTok use.
“Recently, the FBI says the video-sharing app Tik Tok poses a national security concern. The FBI has warned that the Chinese could use this app to influence users or control their devices, said Mills.
The western Kentucky senator said Governor Beshear took action to ban its use in the executive branch. Mills said final passage would put the prohibition all across state government into law. The bill goes on to the House. If approved there, it would go into effect immediately.
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