Arkansas has become the latest state to ban the Chinese social app TikTok from state devices. Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson advised Director of Information Services Jonathan Askins to prohibit TikTok on state devices, and Askins had issued a memo on Dec. 8 to implement the policy.
In addition, Republicans state Senator Gary Stubblefield and state Representative Mark Berry have already filed a bill for January’s legislative session that would prohibit a public entity from using TikTok on state-owned devices or state-leased equipment.
Stubblefield said former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s speech on China’s data-gathering activities almost three years ago to the National Governors Association winter meeting drew his attention.
“He said any company in China is obligated to turn any data information to the Chinese government and I looked it up and started studying it and it turned out to be true. This is not just a national security risk, but it also poses a risk to our children. Millions have downloaded this app and it has facial recognition features, location features and a lot of other powerful A.I. tools on it.”
Berry calls TikTok the perfect “Trojan Horse.”
“TikTok is nothing more than a strategic intelligence gathering mechanism, your modern-day spy, owned by the Peoples Republic of China. As a former senior military officer of 45 years, I see [TikTok] as a threat to our national security. It is a vacuum cleaner to suck up passwords, data and information security related items from American platforms. If you have [TikTok] on a computer or communication device in your home then you are allowing the Chinese intelligence operatives into your children’s bedrooms and a seat at your dinner table.”
Democratic state Senator Greg Leding said the Democratic Party of Arkansas has not taken an official stance on Stubblefield and Berry’s TikTok bill. Leding said a state agency might be able to use TikTok one day to reach a younger generation and outright banning might be a mistake.
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