South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem has certainly set off a favorable trend for the nation, making it rather clear that her government has vastly more concern for national security than the Biden administration.
While the Biden administration clearly loves utilizing Beijing-owned TikTok as one of its chief propaganda platforms, conservatives have recognized the social media app for what it is: just yet another tool utilized for mass surveillance, perfected by the most Orwellian government in the world.
In other words, the type of tool that Democrats salivate over and freedom lovers fear, given the power that such platforms clearly have on influencing (or brainwashing) a given population.
For that reason, Noem said no to TikTok in her state, loud and clear.
“South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us. The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data off the devices that access the platform,” Noem declared.
The governor also indicated her hopes that other states may follow.
“Because of our serious duty to protect the private data of South Dakota citizens, we must take this action immediately. I hope other states will follow South Dakota’s lead, and Congress should take broader action, as well,” Noem added.
Fortunately, Noem got her wish, as a number of Republican governors have followed up with their own bans on TikTok, limiting the power of the CCP, one state at a time.
Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox instituted a ban, noting that TikTok posed an obvious threat to cybersecurity, one of the most important national security considerations in the twenty-first century.
“China’s access to data collected by TikTok presents a threat to our cybersecurity. As a result, we’ve deleted our TikTok account and ordered the same on all state-owned devices. We must protect Utahns and make sure that the people of Utah can trust the state’s security systems,” Cox detailed.
One would think that Democrats, with all their previous concerns about election interference, would be a lot more concerned about cybersecurity than they appear to be.
Alas, election interference is no issue when they are the beneficiaries.
Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt justified his ban on the basis of the CCP potentially having access to sensitive government information.
“Maintaining the cybersecurity of state government is necessary to continue to serve and protect Oklahoma citizens and we will not participate in helping the Chinese Communist Party gain access to government information,” Stitt remarked.
Especially if said information is manipulated in multiple nefarious plots.
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott asserted that TikTok engages in remarkably deceptive practices with regards to mass data harvesting, which is one of the many reasons the Lone Star State has heeded Noem’s call to action.
“TikTok harvests vast amounts of data from its users’ devices – including when, where, and how they conduct Internet activity – and offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government,” Abbott noted.
Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan also illustrated how cybersecurity constitutes one of the most important protections of all for Americans, going as far as to say there is “no greater threat” to both national security and individual safety.
“There may be no greater threat to our personal safety and our national security than the cyber vulnerabilities that support our daily lives,” Hogan fretted.
While conservative states heeding Noem’s call is a great first step towards diminishing the omnipresent influence of the CCP in the nation, it would be ideal if a federal ban were instituted, which is precisely what Trump attempted to do during his last year in office.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI) certainly think a federal ban is a good idea, as they have introduced a bill that would eliminate TikTok from American citizens’ phones.
“TikTok is a major threat to U.S. national security. Yet Biden is encouraging greater engagement with the platform by directly courting TikTok influencers,” Rubio and Gallagher wrote.
Alas, the Biden administration seems more concerned with suppressing Twitter than TikTok …
Author: Ofelia Thornton