CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all Texas state agencies to ban the popular social media application TikTok on all government-issued devices Wednesday.
In a social media post, Abbott said his reasoning was that "the Chinese Communist Party poses a growing threat to U.S. cybersecurity."
He stated that the social-media application is "owned by a Chinese company that employs Chinese Communist Party members and has a subsidiary partially owned by the Chinese Communist Party," in a press release, and said that his primary goal is to protect the cybersecurity of all Texans.
Abbott's order prohibits officers and employees downloading the application on government-issued "cell phones, laptops, tablets, desktop computers, and other devices capable of Internet connectivity," the release said.
This latest move is just one way Abbott aims to address cybersecurity in Texas. Last year, Abbott signed the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act, which looked to limit businesses or governments from contracting with certain partners overseas.
