TikTok

In this photo illustration, the TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone on Aug. 7, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

One state already has voted to ban TikTok. For Congress, it’s going to be much tougher.

BY: - April 18, 2023

As TikTok has mushroomed to more than 150 million monthly U.S. users, so have warnings among both state legislators and members of Congress about its potential danger as a tool of the Chinese government. Dozens of states and the federal government this year banned public employees from downloading the popular app on their government devices. […]

TikTok CEO Shou Chew testifies to a congressional committee on March 23, 2023. (Committee video screenshot)

Members of Congress blast TikTok CEO as bipartisan support for U.S. ban looks possible

BY: - March 23, 2023

A U.S. House panel grilled TikTok’s CEO for more than five hours Thursday over the social media giant’s ties to China, and indicated there may be bipartisan consensus for a national ban on the platform.  Members of both parties showed an unusual level of agreement during tough questioning of TikTok CEO Shou Chew. Several members […]

Bags of heroin, some laced with fentanyl, are displayed before a press conference regarding a major drug bust, at the office of the New York Attorney General, Sept. 23, 2016, in New York City. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. House GOP takes aim at fake pills containing deadly fentanyl sold on social media

BY: - January 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — On a June 2020 morning, Amy Neville entered her son’s bedroom to wake him for an orthodontist appointment. Fourteen-year-old Alex didn’t wake up. He died of fentanyl poisoning after taking a counterfeit pill he bought from someone he met on Snapchat, Neville told GOP lawmakers Wednesday during a roundtable discussion of the role […]

In this photo illustration, the TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone on Aug. 7, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Members of Congress sign up for TikTok, despite security concerns

BY: - January 19, 2023

WASHINGTON — Just like teens, members of Congress are setting up TikTok accounts — even as the popular app is increasingly barred from government devices and heads of federal intelligence agencies raise concerns about data collection and surveillance obtained by a Chinese-owned company.  At least 32 members of Congress — all Democrats and one independent […]

In this photo illustration, a mobile phone can be seen displaying the logos for Chinese apps WeChat and TikTok in front of a monitor showing the flags of the United States and China on an internet page, on September 22, 2020, in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

TikTok ban for federal workers close to becoming law, following flurry of state bans

BY: - December 20, 2022

A ban on federal employees using TikTok on their government-issued phones is on track to become law after Congress included the provision in the year-end government funding bill released early Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s legislation barring the popular social media platform from federal devices was one of several bills attached to the spending measure, […]

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing May 11, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis-Pool/Getty Images)

U.S. Senate votes to bar TikTok from government devices as state bans multiply

BY: - December 15, 2022

The U.S. Senate late Wednesday unanimously passed a bill to ban federal employees from downloading TikTok on their work phones. Critics of TikTok, a widely popular social media platform, say the app creates national security concerns because of its ability to track users’ data — and because the Chinese government can compel that data from […]

The South Dakota Board of Regents prepares to meet on Dec. 8, 2022, at South Dakota Mines in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/SD Searchlight)

Head of state universities orders compliance with Noem’s TikTok ban

BY: - December 8, 2022

The executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents says the state’s higher education system will obey a new TikTok ban on state devices, and state universities will delete the various TikTok accounts they currently operate. Regents Executive Director Brian Maher made the announcement Thursday during a regularly scheduled Board of Regents meeting at […]

Some of the TikTok accounts that appear to be affiliated with state entities in South Dakota. (TikTok screenshots)

Noem’s TikTok ban kills tourism account, leaves other state entities mulling options

BY: and - November 29, 2022

The South Dakota Department of Tourism deleted its TikTok account Tuesday, abandoning the 61,200 followers and 1.7 million likes the state agency cultivated on the popular social media app. And South Dakota State University is meeting with its general counsel on how to handle its 9,000-follower TikTok account — all after Gov. Kristi Noem banned […]