Louisiana Secretary of State Bans TikTok on Department-Issued Devices, Urges Governor Edwards to Do the Same
Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin announced on Monday, December 19 that he is banning TikTok on all devices owned or leased by his agency (Department of State).
Additionally, Ardoin is calling on Governor John Bel Edwards to do the same and place a ban on the same social media platform on all state government devices.
The governors in Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Maryland, Texas, Utah, and Virginia have all recently issued similar bans.
Ardoin's letter to Gov. Edwards read in part:
As secretary of state, I have the serious responsibility of protecting voters’ personally identifiable information, which is why I have taken the step of banning the use of TikTok on all devices owned or leased by my agency. I wholeheartedly believe that doing so on a statewide level would protect our data and reaffirm our commitment to privacy protections for our constituents. Therefore, I urge you to issue a directive banning the use of TikTok on our state government’s devices with immediate effect.
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a technology company based in China.
Ardoin says that his decision follows legislation that was introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers who are trying to make the use of the app prohibited in the U.S. Legislators cite the FBI's and FCC's concerns about TikTok being used to spy on Americans as a significant reason for the ban.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is also demanding action from Google and Apple to increase the age restriction on TikTok by the end of the year because it's "not safe for minors."
TikTok currently has more than 100 million users in the United States and has become popular among younger Americans.