Indiana Joins 19 Other States in Banning TikTok From State Devices

The TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone in Washington, on Aug. 7, 2020. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Indiana has become the twentieth U.S. state to ban the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok from state devices amid growing concerns over threats to national security.

Graig Lubsen, a spokesman for the Indiana Office of Technology, confirmed the block, which has been in effect since Dec. 7, to The Journal Gazette.

The office “blocked TikTok from being used in our state system and on our state devices” and that the office is constantly testing the state system and making sure that the integrity is intact,” according to Lubsen.

TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, which has been linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Officials in the United States are concerned that the app poses a national security risk, and fear that data on users could potentially be accessed by the Chinese government. As a result, U.S. armed forces also have prohibited the app on military devices.

ByteDance denies that TikTok data are handed to Beijing and says it stores U.S. user data on servers outside of China.

The announcement by the Indiana Office of Technology came shortly after Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita filed two lawsuits against TikTok related to alleged “false claims” made by the company about its video-sharing app.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita speaks in Schererville, Ind., on Nov. 8, 2022. Darron Cummings/AP Photo

TikTok ‘Misleading Users About Content’

The first lawsuit alleges that TikTok has “lured” children onto the platform by misleading users about its content, telling users that the app only features “infrequent/mild” sexual content, profanity, or drug references. when in reality, according to Rokita, it is “rife with extreme examples of such material.”

“An essential part of TikTok’s business model is presenting the application as safe and appropriate for children ages 13 to 17,” the lawsuit notes.

The second lawsuit claims that TikTok has “reams of highly sensitive data and personal information about Indiana consumers and has deceived those consumers to believe that this information is protected” from the CCP.

In a video message posted to Twitter on Dec. 29, Attorney General Rokita encouraged parents to supervise their children’s online activity and block “harmful” apps like TikTok.

“I encourage all Hoosier parents to delete the TikTok app off their child’s devices and set parental control to protect them from inappropriate and dangerous material. Our children are our greatest assets so we must take action now.”

TikTok has exploded in popularity with more than a billion monthly users.

In November, a report by Bleeping Computer found that a trending “invisible challenge” on TikTok, in which users filmed themselves naked while using the “Invisible Body” filter to blur out the body, was being used by hackers to steal users’ passwords, credit card data, and Discord accounts.

A visitor makes a photo at the TikTok exhibition stands at the Gamescom computer gaming fair in Cologne, Germany, on Aug. 25, 2022.The Canadian Press/AP, Martin Meissner

TikTok Pushing Harmful Eating Disorder Content, Experts Say

Hackers claimed to offer a special “unfiltering” filter that would remove the TikTok filter and expose users’ bodies, but instead deployed malware to users’ devices and were able to steal information from their accounts on the instant messaging platform, Discord, as well as passwords and credit cards stored on browsers.

A report published in December by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found that TikTok is pushing harmful content involving self-harm and eating disorders into children’s feeds.

Indiana is the latest state to ban the app from state devices, after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan did so on Dec. 6. That ban also covers China’s Huawei Technologies and the partly state-owned technology company ZTE Corp.

South Dakota banned the use of TikTok by state agencies in late November. On Dec. 5, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster requested that the state’s Department of Administration block access to the app on state government phones and computers.

In August 2020, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts blocked TikTok on state electronic devices and accused the CPP of having engaged in “systematic, covert efforts to access sensitive data from U.S. governments, companies, and individuals.”

Meanwhile, the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill signed into law by President Joe Biden on Thursday also includes legislation that would ban the social media app TikTok from government devices due to national security concerns. Biden has until February 2023 to implement the rules.

The Epoch Times has contacted TikTok for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.