PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed legislation that would ban use of the popular video-sharing app TikTok on state-owned devices and state-run networks.
“This will ensure that Pennsylvania's systems are protected from the cybersecurity threats caused by these rogue foreign governmental entities,” said Republican Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, the prime sponsor of the bill.
“Just a few months ago, FBI director Christopher Wray gave dire warnings about the app, and he stated that the Chinese government could use TikTok to control data collection on millions of U.S. users or control the recommendation algorithm.”
In testimony before a U.S. Committee on House Homeland Security in November, Wray highlighted ongoing concerns that the Chinese government could compel TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to share data on users in the U.S.
While TikTok has claimed all U.S. user data is stored in the U.S., concerns have grown since last summer, when the company admitted employees outside of the U.S. could access that data.
Phillips-Hill said she applauds the effort to “ensure data collected about Pennsylvania tax payers is safeguarded from foreign adversaries.”
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The bill includes language that applies to any successor app or service developed by ByteDance or an entity owned by the company.
The ban would not apply to private devices or any networks not run by the state, but it would apply to networks at Pennsylvania’s 14 state-run universities.
Phillips-Hill says 27 other states have taken similar steps, along with the Pennsylvania Treasurer’s office.
The bill now heads to the Pennsylvania House.