DeSantis signs bill to ban TikTok from government devices

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation to ban TikTok or other apps owned by “foreign countries of concern” from government devices Monday.

The legislation was carried by Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, in the Senate and Rep. Carolina Amesty, R-Windermere, in the House.

In September 2022, DeSantis signed an executive order to prohibit government entities from procuring technology products and services from companies owned by, controlled by, or domiciled in foreign countries of concern.

“Foreign country of concern” includes the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba, the Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro, or the Syrian Arab Republic, including any agency of, or any other entity under significant control of such foreign country of concern.

The law requires a public employer to block all prohibited applications from public access on any network and virtual private network that a foreign country of concern owns, operates, and maintains.

A “public employer” includes any agency, authority, branch, bureau, commission, department, division, special district, institution, university, institution of higher education, or board.

“Our kids, they might think TikTok is just a fun way to show or to share videos, or to do the latest viral challenge,” Burgess said. “But unfortunately, that is absolutely not the case.”

Burgess said Tiktok is a “literal spyware app that has no place on government devices.”

“Bytedance, TikTok’s parents company, is using the application to collect Americans personal and sensitive information and feeding it to the Communist Chinese government,” Burgess said.

“Make no mistake, China is attempting to project power and is a very real near peer competitor,” Burgess said.

Burgess said the CCP’s goal is to “break us from within.”

“Whether that means Chinese spy balloons traversing the American continent, buying our lands or stealing our information through cyber attacks or platforms like TikTok, we must be prepared and we must be smart,” Burgess explained.

“Thanks to the leadership of our great governor, we are once again leading the way in ensuring that Florida will be safe from these threats,” Burgess said.

Amesty said U.S. intelligence experts at the highest level have warned that TikTok is a “Trojan horse” of the CCP.

“We take this threat very seriously, and this bipartisan measure will help safeguard the privacy of our residents against hostile foreign actors who are actively working to undermine our security,” Amesty said.

In April, the Florida Board of Governors issued an emergency regulation instructing public universities to ban TikTok from university-owned devices and block access from the university’s owned networks.

Earlier this year, the State University System of Florida Board of Governors banned TikTok from use on university-owned devices.

The governor also signed two other bills into Monday to “combat the influence” of the Chinese Communist Party.

“Today we’re really recognizing the threat and we’re taking action and doing measures that no other state has done at this level,” DeSantis said. “I want to thank the legislature for recognizing that we needed to step up and make things happen.”