Should WA ban Tik Tok from government devices? Here’s what one Tri-City lawmaker says

With all the anxiety swirling around the Chinese social media app Tik Tok and its spying potential, I wondered what our Tri-City legislative cybersecurity expert had to say on the matter.

Turns out, I wasn’t the only one.

Rep. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick — who will be sworn in next month as a state senator — chuckled a bit when I called.

He’s been dealing with this issue for weeks — taking call after call from people wanting to know if Tik Tok should be banned from Washington state government devices.

After all, several other states have made the move. Those include Maryland, Texas, South Dakota, North Dakota, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, Alabama, Iowa, Tennessee, Nebraska and Florida.

The short answer is Boehnke is still researching the situation.

This issue shouldn’t be just about Tik Tok, he said. That’s because if one concerning platform is banned then it’s a sure bet another will pop up to replace it.

Boehnke is looking at the Tik Tok outcry through a wide lens, and said he would rather have a policy in place that thoroughly protects government data not only from Tik Tok, but from any social media platform that poses a security threat.

In addition, he’s not yet certain how prevalent Tik Tok is among Washington state agencies.

Boehnke talks about technology and the internet in the same way some of us chat about the weather. There’s no doubt he understands data breaches better than most.

As well he should.

Since 2015 he has served as the director and lead professor of the cybersecurity division at Columbia Basin College, teaching students how to counter hacking, cyber crime and terrorism.

He’s also on the state Technology Services Board, which focuses on setting information technology policy and standards. Before that, he spent 21 years in the U.S. Army Aviation branch, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel before retiring and moving back to Kennewick.

During his stint in the military, he served in Iraq and other places around the world, gaining experience in handling cyber threats.

The concern over Tik Tok is that it’s owned by the company ByteDance, which is headquartered in Beijing.

It’s a popular video-sharing platform that can also be used as a search engine. But the FBI has said Tik Tok poses national security concerns because it allows the Chinese government to collect scads of data on American users.

The fear is that once Tik Tok is downloaded on your phone, your GPS location, your keyboard swipes and your website searches can be tracked by China.

Last month, FBI Director Chris Wray told U.S. lawmakers that the Chinese government could use the app to try to influence Americans or control their devices.

While Tik Tok has denied that it has provided China with data from American users, many politicians don’t believe it.

On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, R-Florida, introduced bipartisan legislation to ban TikTok from operating in the United States.

In his news release, Rubio said that, “TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is required by Chinese law to make the app’s data available to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). From the FBI Director to FCC Commissioners to cybersecurity experts, everyone has made clear the risk of TikTok being used to spy on Americans.”

While the attempt to ban Tik Tok nationwide will certainly get sucked into a debate over First Amendment free speech rights, that same obstacle shouldn’t be a factor when it comes to banning the Chinese-owned app on state devices.

Boehnke told me he has been asked by a number of people to introduce a bill next legislative session that would do just that, but he wants to make sure he’s thoroughly gathered all the information he needs first.

And that’s where he’s at right now.

It may be that a bill won’t be necessary in Washington state, and Tik Tok can be prohibited by other policy changes, Boehnke said.

He’s keeping options open for the time being.

Come Jan. 9 when the state legislature convenes, my bet is he will be prepared with a path forward.

Just don’t expect to find out about it on Tik Tok.

Cecilia Rexus is the Opinion editor for the Tri-City Herald — crexus@tricityherald.com.