TikTok Banned on State-Owned Michigan Devices, Except Whitmer’s & Others
It looks like TikTok has been banned in Michigan on state-owned devices.
As of March 1st, 2023, TikTok was banned from use on devices owned by the state of Michigan. The state joins around half of the states throughout the nation that has banned the app on such devices.
As of now, the TikTok website is blocked on said devices, however, the app can still be downloaded but users will be unable to open it. Despite this ban, certain state officials such as Governor Whitmer, law enforcement, and others, will still be able to use TikTok on these devices.
According to reports from MLive, a spokesperson for the governor's office said that Whitmer's device is "air gapped" and follows the guidelines set in place to allow for these exceptions. These guidelines are meant to keep the device from accessing certain servers and information.
We know that government agencies have concerns about the Chinese-owned app and its ability to possibly tap into sensitive material. While the app claims that information acquired from the program is stored on United States servers, reports have shown that a few employees in China have used TikTok to track certain individuals in the States.
Read the complete story here on MLive.
Take what you will from this. Personally, I am confused by it. If the security concerns are great enough to ban the app from state-owned devices, I don't feel there should be exceptions if you ask me. Either ban it or don't. TikTok is not the only way for our state officials to pass along information. There are plenty of other platforms that can be used. Just my two cents. Talk amongst yourselves.
Source: MLive