Security reasons still prevent TikTok from being used in India. It’s intriguing to observe that it appears that a number of state governments in America are also paying attention to similar concerns. The state of Montana in the western US announced in May that the app would be completely banned beginning in 2019. TikTok’s parent business, ByteDance, has connections to China, according to Montana, who claimed that this presents security risks. A similar ban is now being implemented in New York City, primarily for government workers. The short video app can still be used by those who aren’t employed by the government.
Mayor Eric Adams’ spokesperson Jonah Allon stated in a statement on Wednesday that the city’s Cyber Command has assessed that the software “posed a security threat to the city’s technical networks.” Employees will no longer have access to TikTok and its website from city-owned devices and networks unless city agencies remove the app within 30 days, according to the NYT.With limited exceptions, TikTok has been prohibited in New York State for more than three years on mobile devices that are provided by the government.
The prohibition, which The Verge first reported, was met with TikTok’s denial of comment, according to the NYT.With videos showcasing its employees and parodies referencing new trash collection schedules, the city’s Department of Sanitation has unintentionally become a TikTok favourite, gaining close to 50,000 followers. The department “comes across in its TikToks as a bunch of genuine, hard-working salt-of-the-earth folks,” according to the Curbed site of New York magazine, which complimented the account last year. The account received a further boost last year when a statement made by Jessica Tisch, the city’s sanitation commissioner, went popular on TikTok: “The rats are undoubtedly going to despise this announcement. We, not the rats, are in charge of this city.
In 2020, the Trump administration first suggested banning TikTok, but a US court rejected the proposal on the grounds that there were no discernible security dangers. President Joe Biden subsequently changed the directives. In addition, a number of other states—including Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, and Louisiana—have also put a prohibition on government-owned devices into effect.
Users still have limited options in India because TikTok is still illegal there. Additionally betting on TikTok being blocked in the nation, Meta introduced Reels in 2020. Short videos have also been added to other apps including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter (now X).
While some TikTok users may be saddened by the loss of such accounts, they can still watch Empire State-related content on @NYGov, the official TikTok account for New York State. Recently, @NYGov parodied the recent “girl dinner” trend with a video extolling a “New York State girl dinner” consisting of pizza, Hudson Valley cheese, Tate’s cookies, and bagels, as reported by the New York Times.
