Governor Kay Ivey issued a memo Monday to all state agencies announcing the banning of TikTok from government devices due to concerns over the app's links to China.
TikTok is owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, and technology experts and lawmakers have been raising the alarm over potential threats the popular video-sharing app poses to personal information and national security.
The governor said the ban was a “cyber security action” to protect “the state and Alabamians’ sensitive data from Chinese infiltration activities.”
Alabama joins a growing number of states including Maryland, Texas, Utah, Oklahoma and South Carolina in banning the app.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem took the extra step of reviewing the state’s investments in Chinese-owned companies.
“South Dakotans deserve to know if their taxpayer dollars are being invested to benefit the Chinese Communist Party,” Noem said in a statement, according to AP News.
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