HARRISBURG, Pa. — The popular social media app TikTok is officially banned from all devices issued by the Pennsylvania Treasury.
Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced the ban on Thursday, citing that the FBI had recently called the app a "national security concern."
“Treasury’s computer network is targeted by scammers and criminals every day,” Garrity said. “TikTok presents a clear danger due to its collection of personal data and its close connection to the communist Chinese government. Banning TikTok from Treasury devices and systems is an important step in our never-ending work to ensure the safety of Pennsylvanians’ hard-earned tax dollars and other important, sensitive information entrusted to Treasury.”
An internal security review confirmed that TikTok has not been used on any Treasury-issued devices. The organization's firewall has now been updated to block access to the app and its corresponding website from any Treasury device, including phones, laptops and desktop computers.
The announcement comes on the heels of a similar prohibition implemented by the University System of Georgia and Congress' movement to ban the app from all government devices.
According to Garrity, many states – including Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia – have banned the app. It has also been banned by Florida’s Department of Financial Services, Louisiana’s Department of State, and the West Virginia State Auditor’s Office. The Indiana Attorney General has filed two lawsuits against TikTok.
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, based in Beijing, China. It is consumed by two-thirds of American teens and has become the second-most popular domain in the world.
