TikTok bans hit more U.S. states; security firm says most access blocked globally

Jamf Holding

19/12/2022 23:04

By Paresh Dave
       OAKLAND, Calif., Dec 19 (Reuters) - State agencies in
Louisiana and West Virginia on Monday became the latest to ban
the use of the popular social media service TikTok on
government-managed devices over concern that China could use it
to track Americans and censor content.
    Some 19 of the 50 U.S. states have now at least partially
blocked access on government computers to TikTok, which is owned
by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. Most of the restrictions came
within the past two weeks.
    Some members of Congress last week proposed a nationwide
ban, which would follow countries such as India that have
already prohibited its use.
    Jamf Holding Corp  JAMF.O , which sells software to
organizations to enable filtering and security measures on
iPhones and other Apple  AAPL.O  devices, said its government
customers have increasingly blocked access to TikTok since the
middle of this year.
    About 65% of attempted connections to TikTok have been
blocked this month on devices managed by Jamf’s public sector
customers worldwide, including school districts and various
other agencies, up from 10% of connections being blocked in
June, the company said.
    TikTok on Monday reiterated a statement, saying the company
was "disappointed that so many states are jumping on the
political bandwagon to enact policies based on unfounded
falsehoods about TikTok that will do nothing to advance the
national security of the United States."
    In Louisiana, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin said he banned
TikTok on all devices his agency owns, citing potential security
threats but without identifying any present issues. West
Virginia State Auditor JB McCuskey said he did the same for his
agency.
    U.S. officials and TikTok have been in talks for months
about a national security pact that would address the concerns
about China's access to data on TikTok's more than 100 million
U.S. users.
 (Reporting by Paresh Dave;
Editing by Bill Berkrot)
 ((paresh.dave@thomsonreuters.com; 415-565-1302;))