HARRISBURG, Pa. — A new bill proposed by State Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill would ban all state-owned devices from downloading and using the popular app TikTok, citing its "high level of cybersecurity risk to the Commonwealth and its digital assets."
Senate Bill 379, proposed by the York County Republican, would mandate that all state agencies, departments, and commissions remove the application from state networks.
The measure would also require that policies are put in place to prevent application installation, as well as network-based restrictions to prevent its use and access, according to a press release from Phillips-Hill's communications office.
“TikTok presents an unacceptable level of cyber espionage, collection of government data, and a threat to personal security,” Phillips-Hill said. “At least 25 other states have addressed this, and Congress prohibited its use across a broad swath of federal agencies and departments.
"State Treasurer Stacy Garrity has restricted its use within her department. It is time for us to step up and protect Pennsylvania’s sensitive information by banning this app from state-owned devices and networks.”
Phillips-Hill cited CIA directors Bill Burns' interview with PBS NewsHour, where he shared concerns with the application’s China-based parent company.
Burns states the Chinese government can extract the private data of TikTok users and shape the content on the application to suit the interests of Chinese leadership, Phillips-Hill said.
Nationally, Republicans and Democrats have called for the social media app to be banned from popular app stores, the senator added.
The bill was referred to the Senate Communications & Technology Committee for its consideration.
