Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin is championing legislation that would prohibit minors from using the popular social media video app TikTok.
“I’m announcing that I will introduce legislation to restrict youth access — those under 18 — to TikTok,” said Youngkin at a press conference held in Richmond last week. “Full stop, we will introduce the bill.”
As indicated in a statement published by Youngkin’s office announcing the gathering, the governor’s effort to “protect minors from TikTok’s predatory influence in the Commonwealth of Virginia” is part of his Youth Mental Health Strategy.
According to the governor’s office, “Children spend on average nearly five hours daily on social media; recent studies have suggested that children who spend more than a few hours per day on social media have double the risk of poor mental health.”
Last year, Youngkin issued an executive order banning TikTok and WeChat on state government devices, citing concerns over the phone apps’ connections to Communist China.
“TikTok and WeChat data are a channel to the Chinese Communist Party, and their continued presence represents a threat to national security, the intelligence community, and the personal privacy of every single American,” said Youngkin in a statement in 2022.
“We are taking this step today to secure state government devices and wireless networks from the threat of infiltration and ensure that we safeguard the data and cybersecurity of state government.”
Virginia’s Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares said TikTok poses “a threat to national security and consumer privacy” and also “negatively impacts the mental health of our youth.”
“I joined a bipartisan coalition of 43 other attorneys general to investigate TikTok’s physical and mental impact on children. As this investigation continues, I am glad that Governor Youngkin is addressing the serious security risks TikTok poses for the Commonwealth,” stated Miyares at the time.
While multiple states have taken similar measures to bar the use of TikTok on government-owned devices, Montana became the first state to pass a law banning the app altogether.
In May, Montana’s Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 419, which prohibits mobile application stores in the state from offering TikTok as an application.
“The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented,” said Gianforte earlier this year.
“Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.”
In March, TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, denying that his business was an agent of the Communist Chinese government.
“TikTok is led by an executive team in the United States and Singapore and has global offices, including in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Nashville, New York, Washington, D.C., Dublin, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. Our headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore. TikTok is not available in mainland China,” Chew claimed in written testimony.
“TikTok, as a U.S. company incorporated in the United States, is subject to the laws of the United States. TikTok has never shared, or received a request to share, U.S. user data with the Chinese government. Nor would TikTok honor such a request if one were ever made.”
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