Tag Archives: TikTok

The Guardian reports: TikTok has been fined €345m (£296m) for breaking EU data law in its handling of children’s accounts, including failing to shield underage users’ content from public view. The Irish data watchdog, which regulates TikTok across the EU, said the Chinese-owned video app had committed multiple breaches of GDPR rules. It found TikTok had contravened GDPR by placing …

Axios reports: Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy on Wednesday became the first GOP presidential candidate to join TikTok, a Chinese-owned app he described as “digital fentanyl” as recently as last week. Ramaswamy, 38, said Wednesday that he changed his stance on using TikTok after a conversation with social media star Jake Paul. “Yes, kids under age 16 shouldn’t be using it, but …

Reuters reports: Five TikTok users in Montana who create content posted on the short-video app filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block the state’s new ban on the Chinese-owned platform. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed legislation to ban TikTok in the state, effective Jan. 1. The five users seek to block the law, which makes it …

The Associated Press reports: Montana became the first state in the U.S. to completely ban TikTok on Wednesday when the state’s Republican governor signed a measure that’s more sweeping than any other state’s attempts to curtail the social media app. The measure is expected to be challenged legally and will serve as a testing ground for the TikTok-free America that …

Politico reports: Rand’s got a new stand: Banning TikTok will backfire on the GOP with young voters. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who’s shown repeatedly that he’ll stretch chamber rules to their limits in order to be heard, is warning the rest of the GOP about the electoral price it might pay for yanking one of their favorite apps. As the …

Roll Call reports: Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Rep. Daniel Crenshaw of Texas lead a group of more than a dozen GOP members of the House and Senate agitating for a congressional rule change to ban members from using the app in an official capacity as members of Congress, though they could still use it for personal or …

CBS News reports: Montana became the first state in the nation Friday to pass a bill banning TikTok from operating in the state, a move that’s bound to face legal challenges but also serve as a testing ground for the TikTok-free America that many national lawmakers have envisioned. The Montana House voted 54-43 to send the bill to Republican Gov. …

Sen. Rand Paul writes for the Louisville Courier-Journal: Congressional Republicans have come up with a national strategy to permanently lose elections for a generation: Ban a social media app called TikTok that 94 million, primarily young Americans, use. The banning TikTok strategy also comes while the GOP simultaneously complains of liberal U.S. social media companies canceling and censoring conservatives. So, …

Reuters reports:  House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Sunday lawmakers will move forward with legislation to address national security worries about TikTok, alleging China’s government had access to the short video app’s user data. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before a U.S. House Committee for about five hours on Thursday, and lawmakers from both parties grilled him …

NBC News reports: The Biden administration is threatening a potential ban on TikTok in the United States if the video sharing app’s Chinese owners refuse to sell their stakes in it, a source close to the company told NBC News on Thursday. The source, however, cautioned that the company did not see the administration’s move as a final order. Talks …

The Verge reports: TikTok has announced a batch of new features intended to reduce screen time and improve the well-being of its younger users. In the coming weeks, a daily screen time limit of 60 minutes will be automatically applied to every TikTok user under 18 years old. Teens that hit this limit will be asked to enter a passcode …

Florida Politics reports: The Florida Senate sponsor of legislation (SB 52) that would ban the use of the Chinese-owned TikTok in Florida schools is looking skyward for justification. Sen. Danny Burgess told a national audience on Friday’s Fox & Friends that a Chinese spy balloon currently floating high above the northern tier of the United States illustrates why the controversial …

ABC News reports: Sen. Michael Bennet, D-CO, sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Thursday calling on their companies to remove TikTok from their respective app stores, citing concerns about how TikTok handles the data of American users. “Like most social media networks, TikTok collects vast and sophisticated data from its users,” Bennet …

Reuters reports: U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican and China hawk, said on Tuesday that he would introduce a bill to ban the short video app TikTok in the United States. TikTok, whose parent is the Chinese company ByteDance, already faces a ban that would stop federal employees from using or downloading TikTok on government-owned devices. TikTok said in a …

NBC News reports: Lawmakers and staffers must delete TikTok from any House-issued mobile phones and are prohibited from downloading the popular app on such devices, according to an internal memo obtained by NBC News. The memo, sent Tuesday by Catherine L. Szpindor, the chief administrative officer of the House, said the ban comes after her office’s cybersecurity unit found TikTok …

CNN Business reports: The Senate passed legislation Wednesday evening to ban TikTok from US government devices, in a move designed to limit perceived information-security risks stemming from the social media app. The vote by unanimous consent approved the bill authored by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley. The move marks lawmakers’ latest step against the short-form video app that has become popular …

CNBC reports: A new bill from a bipartisan group of lawmakers, if passed, would ban TikTok in the U.S. after years of broad concern across the Trump and Biden administrations about potential Chinese government influence on the company. The new bill, introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., would ban “all transactions …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott banned the social media platform TikTok from government-issued cellphones and computers on Wednesday, becoming the latest GOP governor to target the video-sharing app over cybersecurity fears. Abbott cited concerns that TikTok posed a threat to state information given that the app is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance Ltd. Republican governors in South …

Baltimore’s NBC affiliate reports: Gov. Larry Hogan issued an emergency cybersecurity directive to prohibit the use of certain Chinese and Russian-influenced products and platforms, including the popular social media site TikTok. According to a release, it states that these entities present an unacceptable level of cybersecurity risk to the state, and may be involved in activities such as cyber-espionage, surveillance …

Just in press release: Today, Governor Kristi Noem signed Executive Order 2022-10, which bans the Chinese social media platform TikTok for state government agencies, employees, and contractors using state devices. This order is in response to the growing national security threat posed by TikTok due to its data gathering operations on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “South Dakota …