LAWMAKER TO BAN "DIGITAL FENTANYL" (AKA TIKTOK) ON HAWAII GOVERNMENT PHONES AND COMPUTERS

News Release from Office of Rep Gene Ward, R-HawaiiKai Dec 31, 2022

HONOLULU, HI- Rep. Gene Ward (R-18 Hawaii Kai- Kalama Valley) will introduce a bill in the 2023 Legislative Session to ban TikTok, also known by its draconian addictive name "digital fentanyl," from use on government devices.

The purpose is to obviate the serious national security risks posed by TikTok's parent company, Byte Dance, which has strong ties to and ownership by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The Director of the FBI has warned that the CCP could harness the app to control or compromise America's software. In response, the US Congress has recently banned TikTok's use on government devices and numerous states are considering similar legislation. Ward suggests it is time for Hawaii to follow suit since it is the epicenter for defense of the nation in the Pacific.

TikTok is known to be mining and storing in China the identities and private information of up to 200 million Americans according to reports.

Ward's bill gives the Hawaii State Government an additional layer of protection for what is currently a huge hole in our digital armor.

"With Pearl Harbor just down the street from the Capitol, the least we can do to protect our nation and its citizens is to get this communist app off our State of Hawaii computers and phones," Ward, a Vietnam Veteran stated.

"No one working for our state government and using a taxpayer computer or phone should be watching TikTok videos while they're in the office in the first place, so this bill is a 'no-brainer'," Ward concluded.

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KITV: Hawaii lawmaker seeking to ban TikTok on state devices  

SA: Planned bill would ban TikTok app on state-issued devices