Discussions continued Thursday as Massachusetts lawmakers consider a proposal to ban TikTok on government devices.
The federal government has already banned the popular social media app for its devices. Now, one local representative is pushing for a state level ban, as well.
“TikTok is a national security risk,” said Rep. Michael Soter.
TikTok has brought up a number of data and privacy concerns in recent months due to its being owned by a Chinese-based company.
Many fear user data could be shared with the Chinese government.
“The problem with TikTok is they’re not following the same rules as everybody else,” Soter said. “They don’t want to follow the rules.”
In addition to the federal government, some other states have also banned TikTok.
Soter said he believes it’s simply common sense for Massachuesetts to follow suit.
“If you have your personal device and you want to use TikTok, that’s up to you,” he said. “This is about the government devices.”
Cyber security experts at Boston College believe that people everywhere should be thinking about the information they share on TikTok.
Unlike other US based social media apps like Facebook, experts believe that the information users share on TikTok could be used against them.
“The data that’s coming in, the personally identifiable information, the sensitive information people are sharing in TikTok is actually going to the Chinese government and when it goes to the Chinese government, in fact, they are building dossiers on all the individuals who use TikTok,” said Kevin Powers, the founder and director of graduate cyber security programs at Boston College.
Powers said he feels there is no benefit to having TikTok on government devices. He said he also feels parents need to talk with their children about the app.
“The people who are using TikTok, mostly, are young kids,” he said. “So, there needs to be some education that, ‘Hey, anything you put up there can and will be used against you down the road,’” Powers said.
The proposed bill to ban TikTok on state devices would not affect the ability of users to use TikTok on their own devices, even if they’re on a government WiFi network.
After Thursday’s hearing, Soter said he hopes the state house and senate will move quickly on the proposed legislation in hopes of getting it passed as soon as possible.
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