In an executive order signed Thursday, Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) banned TikTok on all state devices.
Following the Republican’s lead, Cooper is now the latest Democratic governor to ban a Chinese-owned social media app over national security concerns, the Washington Examiner reports.
In a press release, Governor Cooper stated, “It’s important for us to protect state information technology from foreign countries that have actively participated in cyberattacks against the United States. Protecting North Carolina from cyber threats is vital to ensuring the safety, security, privacy, and success of our state and its people.”
As of late last year, a growing number of Democratic governors started banning TikTok on state-owned devices due to concerns that the app’s parent company, ByteDance, might sell U.S. citizens’ data to the Chinese Communist Party.
The popularity of TikTok has soared among teenagers in recent years. According to a recent survey by Piper Sandler, 38% of users rate it as their favorite app. Two-thirds of teenagers in the U.S. use the app.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s recently signed executive order is revealing of a national trend, as Democratic governors are coming around to support the nation-wide ban on Chinese-owned social media app TikTok. This restriction comes as a response to serious security concerns regarding the possibility that the app’s parent company could be using users’ data and selling it to the Chinese Communist Party. While this outright ban may inconvenience some users, it is necessary in keeping citizens safe from having their data stolen.
