New York City reportedly bans TikTok on government devices – Times of India

TikTok, the popular short-video app has once again come under international scrutiny. Worries have emerged regarding its Chinese ownership and the potential for Beijing to misuse it for collecting data on users from Western countries or spreading pro-China narratives and misleading content. A new online report revealed that New York City has decided to ban TikTok from the city-owned devices used by BYC employees.

As reported by The Verge, New York City is banning TikTok from the city-owned devices and it has also asked various agencies to remove the app within the next 30 days. The report reveals that the New York City Cyber Command mentioned that TikTok is a security threat to the technical networks of the city. The city employees are now not allowed to download or use the TikTok app on the city-owned devices. Along with this, the employees are also not allowed to access the TikTok website of the devices. TikTok was previously prohibited on devices issued by the state of New York, yet certain employees managed to continue its use for marketing objectives.
“While social media is great at connecting New Yorkers with one another and the city, we have to ensure we are always using these platforms in a secure manner. NYC Cyber Command regularly explores and advances proactive measures to keep New Yorkers’ data safe,” a NYC City Hall spokesperson told The Verge.

Legislators within the US government have been supporting a proposed law that could lead to a TikTok ban across the entire nation. Apprehensions have arisen regarding the storage of US TikTok data in China.
FCC chairman wants the world to ban TikTok
Recently, the United States (US) Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr praised India’s approach of dealing with Chinese apps through a complete ban. In an interview with the Economic Times, Carr said that India’s early and thoughtful approach to insecure Chinese apps set a standard that the rest of the world should adopt.
“Apps that are ultimately beholden to the Communist Party of China have a proven track record of surreptitious data collections and accessing more data than necessary for the app to function. None of that can be separated from the broader security threats posed by those apps,” said Carr.
In June 2020, India implemented a ban on TikTok and more than 50 other Chinese applications. Subsequently, additional bans on several other Chinese apps were enforced in the subsequent months. In total, the nation has prohibited the usage of over 100 Chinese apps.