South Dakota bans TikTok for state workers, asks for other states to follow

The days of government employees using TikTok are over, or at least for state workers in South Dakota to be more precise. Republican Governor Kristi Noem has now banned the app from state-owned devices in her state.

According to Gizmodo, Noem signed an executive order yesterday that bans the popular social app from any state-owned device that can access the internet. The order goes into effect immediately and applies to all South Dakota government workers, including contractors. Government employees won’t be allowed to use or download the app on their phone and are barred from visiting the TikTok website.

As to why Noem has enacted this executive order, the Governor explained in the document that her reasoning is based on national security concerns the app presents.

South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us. The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data off the devices that access the platform.

Noem further supported her rationale by saying that government sectors like the military, Transportation Security Administration, and more have already taken similar steps due to the unique national security risks. She also states that Federal Communication Commission officials support a complete ban of TikTok as well.

In addition to banning the social app from her state, Noem hopes that other states will do the same.

Because of our serious duty to protect the private data of South Dakota citizens, we must take this action immediately. I hope other states will follow South Dakota’s lead, and Congress should take broader action, as well.

As TikTok continues to find itself in the crosshairs of the government, competition is getting tougher as YouTube continues to tweak its answer to the app — YouTube Shorts.