Ron DeSantis, the Republican presidential candidate, expressed his consideration of implementing a nationwide ban on TikTok if elected, citing concerns about the app’s ownership by a Chinese company and potential security risks related to data mining.
DeSantis on nationwide TikTok ban
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the Florida governor stated that he is inclined against having TikTok operate within the United States due to the perceived security vulnerability resulting from the data collection practices.
However, DeSantis clarified that he would not go as far as supporting measures like the RESTRICT Act, a bipartisan bill seeking to grant the federal government greater authority in regulating and banning technology linked to foreign adversaries. He stressed that he doesn’t want extensive government intervention in people’s applications and emphasized the importance of safeguarding the country against vulnerabilities.
TikTok on govt and school servers in Florida
Earlier this year, Governor DeSantis signed a bill preventing the use of TikTok on government and school servers and devices in Florida, as part of a series of legislative actions aimed at reducing the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the state. He argued that the potential benefits of these applications do not outweigh the risks posed by the CCP’s data mining and information collection activities.
