Community Media of South Central PA Celebrating Community
Legislation that would prohibit state-owned devices and networks from downloading and using TikTok was approved with unanimous support in the Senate, according to the measure’s sponsor, Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York).
Across the nation, Democrats and Republicans have voiced growing concerns about the security and potential manipulation of the popular social media app TikTok. This has led various branches of the federal government and many states to ban the platform on government devices and networks, protecting their assets.
Senate Bill 379 would mandate that all state agencies, departments, and commissions remove the application from state networks and devices. 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.
“Our nation’s top law enforcement agencies and national defense officials agree that TikTok presents an unacceptable level of cyber espionage, collection of government data and is a threat to personal security,” said Phillips-Hill. “I applaud the bipartisan support on this measure so Pennsylvania’s government can best protect its information technology assets and resources, and, most importantly, ensure that data collected about Pennsylvania taxpayers is safeguarded from foreign adversaries.”
The legislation advances to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
