×

Weld Calls for Justice To Ban TikTok, WeChat From State Devices

photo by: Photo courtesy of WV Legislative Photography

STATE SEN. RYAN WELD, R-BROOKE

CHARLESTON – A state senator is raising concerns about the data collection of certain popular social media applications with connections to the Chinese government, asking Gov. Jim Justice to keep these programs off state-owned computers and devices.

In a letter dated Monday, Senate Judiciary Committee Vice Chairman Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, asked Justice to issue an executive order to prohibit the use of TikTok, WeChat or other social media programs developed by ByteDance Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. on state-owned computers, cell phones and tablets.

TikTok is a social media program that allows users to share short videos. WeChat is a social messaging and phone call app similar to Facebook Messenger. TikTok was developed by ByteDance while WeChat was developed by Tencent Holdings. Both companies are headquartered in China.

The popularity of TikTok, WeChat and other similar apps has exploded in recent years, with children, teens and young adults flocking to the programs. These apps have also drawn the attention of state and local governments looking to reach a younger audience. But as the popularity of these apps has grown, so have concerns about the data these apps collect being used by the Chinese government to steal information or manipulate audiences.

“TikTok and WeChat, however popular they may be in the United States, are owned by Chinese tech companies …,” Weld wrote. “Under Chinese law, the Communist government has the legal authority to compel these companies to provide it with data they already collect or may be able to collect through their applications.”

Republican governors in 12 states, including neighboring Virginia and Maryland, have banned the use of TikTok and WeChat on computers and devices used by public employees with Virginia banning these social media platforms last week, according to NPR. A bill passed last Wednesday in the U.S. Senate and pending in the House of Representatives would require that TikTok be removed from federal government computers and devices.

Weld, a former intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force, said it makes sense for West Virginia to join with its fellow states and federal lawmakers in banning TikTok and WeChat.

“There’s always been concerns at the federal level about TikTok and its connections to the government of the People’s Republic of China for several years,” Weld said Monday by phone. “It has finally started to pick up steam recently for states to ban TikTok and WeChat because of their connections to the Communist government. I thought that finally now that several other states have done it, we could do it here in West Virginia.”

Requests for comment from Justice and Joshua Spence, West Virginia’s state technology officer, were not returned. But State Auditor J.B. McCuskey issued a press release Monday prohibiting TikTok on state computers and devices used by the State Auditor’s Office. McCuskey and Weld also called on county and city governments to halt use of TikTok.

“I am so thankful to work with Senator Weld on this incredibly important initiative,” McCuskey said. “We have seen the threat that China and its government poses to our critical infrastructure and this move is a proactive approach to protect the taxpayers of West Virginia.”

“Auditor McCuskey is absolutely making the right move by banning this app,” Weld said in the joint release. “It has no place on government devices.”

Weld said it also makes sense to keep these programs off of state devices given West Virginia’s recent economic development announcements. North Carolina-based Nucor is building an electric arc furnace in Mason County to manufacture steel, Berkshire Hathaway-owned BHE Renewables is building a titanium melt facility in Jackson County and Commercial Metals Co. just announced a $450 million investment in Berkeley County for a micro mill to manufacture rebar.

West Virginia also is getting into the battery and electric vehicle business. Seattle-based Pure Watercraft announced it would build an electric pontoon boat manufacturing plant in Brooke County in Beech Bottom. California-based Sparkz announced that it would build an electric battery plant in Taylor County near Bridgeport. A yet-unnamed company is considering the Weirton area for a battery manufacturing plant.

Omnis Sublimation Recovery Technologies plans to build in Wyoming County to extract rare earth minerals, the key ingredients in batteries and other electronic devices, from old coal waste impoundments. The largest provider of rare earth minerals to the U.S. and the world is China. If more rare earth minerals can be extracted from former coal mine sites, it could make West Virginia a threat to China’s domination of the rare earth mineral market and make the state a ripe target for economic espionage.

“That could absolutely occur,” Weld said. “I think that is why we need to be more diligent than ever with these kinds of things … Cyberattacks are one of the biggest threats that we face as a nation to our information, to our infrastructure. The Chinese government plays a large role in that, whether its government entities, military organizations, or state-sanctioned third parties.”

Weld said some federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Defense and the State Department, already prohibit use of TikTok and similar apps. Federal contractors, including Lockheed Martin also prohibit their employees from using these apps on company devices.

McCuskey and Weld are also drafting legislation that would prohibit countries of concern, such as China, from obtaining property through West Virginia’s property tax sale process.

Starting at $2.99/week.

Subscribe Today