Gov. Mark Gordon introduces his 2023-2024 supplemental budget proposal during a press conference in the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. “We must respond to inflationary costs of construction, bring our employee compensation closer to market, set ourselves up to power the nation toward energy independence and address the rising costs of homeownership for our most vulnerable citizens,” Gordon said in a press release. Alyte Katilius/Wyoming Tribune Eagle
TikTok application icon on iPhone screen. Photo by Konstantin Savusia via Shutterstock
Gov. Mark Gordon introduces his 2023-2024 supplemental budget proposal during a press conference in the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. “We must respond to inflationary costs of construction, bring our employee compensation closer to market, set ourselves up to power the nation toward energy independence and address the rising costs of homeownership for our most vulnerable citizens,” Gordon said in a press release. Alyte Katilius/Wyoming Tribune Eagle
CHEYENNE – Gov. Mark Gordon announced a ban on the social media application TikTok from all state electronic devices and networks Thursday afternoon to address cybersecurity concerns, joining at least 12 other states in doing so.
The concerns were related to the app’s foreign ownership and the potential influence of foreign governments, which was also expressed by Secretary of State-elect Chuck Gray in a press release that morning. Gray announced his own plan to ban TikTok on all state-owned government devices within the Secretary of State’s Office upon being sworn in next month.
Gordon sent a memo to all state employees, directing that TikTok be permanently removed and access blocked from all state government electronic devices and networks. The ban extends to all state-issued cellphones, laptops, tablets, desktop computers and other information technology equipment capable of internet connectivity.
His office may grant exceptions to enable law enforcement investigations and other uses, as needed, he said.
“Maintaining robust cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, and Wyoming is committed to identifying threats that could impact public safety,” Gordon wrote in the memo. “The potential for foreign governments to access information collected by TikTok is extremely troubling.”
The governor’s memo also directs the State’s Enterprise Technology Services, Wyoming Office of Homeland Security and Wyoming Information Analysis Team to conduct a coordinated review of any other technology-based threats posed to state government networks.
TikTok was established in 2016, and gained popularity following the purchase of the Musical.ly app by Chinese company ByteDance. Its users were moved to TikTok, which is a short-form, video-sharing application. According to the latest marketing reports, it has more than 1 billion global monthly active users.
“Every day, technology becomes more intertwined with our lives, evolving at an ever-accelerating pace,” Gordon wrote. “At the same time, cybercriminals work just as quickly to find ways to compromise that technology, disrupt essential operations and exert influence throughout Wyoming.”
Gray voiced his own apprehension regarding the social media platform, and said that state officials across the country have also banned the use of the Chinese social media application on state-owned devices in order to act “against the growing national security threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party.”
“TikTok has already played a large role in the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to censor political speech and suppress any information which contradicts the Chinese Communist Party’s talking point,” Gray said in a statement. “Equally troubling, TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, is subject to the requirements of the Chinese Communist Party, which require all companies to assist the Chinese Government’s intelligence gathering efforts.”
Gray said this means the compulsion of personal data, internet-browsing history, intellectual property and other proprietary information of its users. For this reason, a growing number of experts agree that TikTok poses a major threat to national security.
“To ensure Wyoming maintains integrity in its elections, adequate securities regulation, and the appropriate and safe custody of the many business records maintained by the office, action must be taken before it is too late,” he said.
Jasmine Hall is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s state government reporter. She can be reached by email at jhall@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3167. Follow her on Twitter @jasminerhphotos and on Instagram @jhrose25.
