North Carolina Lawmakers Demand Governor Follows Other States in Banning TikTok

Two North Carolina Representatives are pressing Gov. Roy Cooper’s office to follow other states in issuing an executive order banning TikTok from government devices.

Jason Saine and Jon Hardister (both Republicans) sent a letter to Governor Democrat ().pdfCooper must be forced to remove the Chinese video application, insists ). “swiftly and decisively,” It is a “matter of national security.”

“As we know, the Chinese government is constantly working to infiltrate our communications and access intellectual data within the United States,” Saine and Hardister wrote. “If sensitive data is breached, it could pose both an economic and security threat for North Carolina. We have a responsibility to prevent this from happening, which is why we are urging an executive order as soon as possible.”

Saine and Hardister referred to past orders such as that of the chief administrative officer of the U.S House of Representatives, who issued an order Wednesday for all legislators to delete the app from all devices controlled by the House.

President Joe Biden signed Thursday’s $1.7 trillion Omnibus bill into law. It includes legislation that bans the social media app from government device due to national security concerns.

State-Level Bans

The Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. has also banned TikTok from the state governments.

On Friday, Indiana became 20th to stop TikTok being used in state devices.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (a Republican) filed two lawsuits against TikTok, alleging that the app made fraudulent claims.

“The TikTok app is a malicious and menacing threat unleashed on unsuspecting Indiana consumers by a Chinese company that knows full well the harms it inflicts on users,” Rokita spoke in a press release. “With this pair of lawsuits, we hope to force TikTok to stop its false, deceptive and misleading practices, which violate Indiana law.”

Rokita stated that the first lawsuit claims that TikTok lured children onto its platform by misleading advertising, claiming that the app contained only “’infrequent/mild’ sexual content, profanity, or drug references.”

Rokita stated, however that the app was in fact free. “rife with examples of such material.”

“An essential part of TikTok’s business model is presenting the application as safe and appropriate for children ages 13 to 17,” He said.

Second lawsuit claims that TikTok collects data about its customers and that it “deceived those consumers to believe that this information is protected from the Chinese government and Communist party.”

“In multiple ways, TikTok represents a clear and present danger to Hoosiers that is hiding in plain sight in their own pockets,” Rokita stated. “At the very least, the company owes consumers the truth about the age-appropriateness of its content and the insecurity of the data it collects on users. We hope these lawsuits force TikTok to come clean and change its ways.”

Saine and Hardister said that if Cooper doesn’t take action, they will proceed to work in the 2023 legislative session to bring about a law that would ban TikTok from government-issued devices in North Carolina.

“However, it is our hope that your office will take swift and immediate action to address this matter in the interest of enhancing our domestic security and protecting our citizens,” They said.

The Epoch Times reached out to Cooper’s office and TikTok for comment.

Katabella Roberts contributed this report.

Matt McGregor is a journalist covering news and features in the United States. Send him your ideas for stories:
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