Kentucky joins growing numbers of states to ban TikTok on government-owned devices

Kentucky is the latest state to ban the use of the popular social media app TikTok on government-owned devices, according to the latest employee handbook issued by the Personnel Cabinet this month.

Almost half of all states have banned TikTok on government devices, according to a recent report by The Associated Press, as has the federal government due to growing security concerns around the Chinese-owned company.

“The new changes have been under consideration for several weeks and the change was made based on recent federal legislation, as well as information from federal law enforcement,” Steeley Shacklette, executive director of public affairs for the Personnel Cabinet, said in an email. “This guidance only applies to state government devices and accounts, and does not apply to personal use on personal devices.”

The change applies to employees of the executive branch of state government, which includes the governor’s office and the state’s cabinets.

The only acceptable use of TikTok on state devices is for “a law enforcement purpose,” according to the employee handbook.

Kentucky lawmakers have also put forth bills this legislative session — Senate Bill 20 and House Bill 124 — to ban Tiktok from state-owned devices or networks. These twin bills would also ban TikTok’s use in the legislative branch and allow for the judicial branch to ban the app, and would take effect immediately if they become law.

Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have warned that TikTok user data could be shared by owner ByteDance Ltd. with China’s authoritarian government. U.S. officials also worry that the Chinese government might use TikTok to push pro-China narratives or misinformation.

Fears were stoked by news reports last year that a China-based team improperly accessed data of U.S. TikTok users, including two journalists, as part of a covert surveillance program to ferret out the source of leaks to the press.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.