While State and Local Governments across the country – as well as in Washington – are seeing the security threat represented by data harvesting by China, our nation’s top rival on the world stage, a city councilwoman in Rapid City is apparently standing up and declaring here you go, Chinese Communist Party! You can have our information!
As related in the Rapid City Journal this morning, Laura Armstrong, who has already declared her candidacy for Rapid City Mayor in 2023, led a fight to kill an resolution for the Rapid City Common Council to banning the app from city devices, networks and prohibiting city departmental accounts:
During the previous two meetings, Salamun regularly defended his request, citing action by the federal government to ban the app on its work devices, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s ban on state-owned devices because of a threat to national security. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Wray expressed similar concerns during a House Homeland Security Committee meeting in November. Those in opposition to the TikTok app say its owner, Chinese-based ByteDance, could collect and release user data to the Chinese Communist Party.
Laura Armstrong, who represents Ward 5, spoke often at all three meetings in opposition to a potential ban, previously calling it “a solution in search of a problem.” She provided a draft report from the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy’s Internet Governance Project that quantified a TikTok ban as being no different than an argument against the free and open internet.
“All forms of global digital connectivity and applications involve exchanges of extensive amounts of technical and behavioral data,” read the report.
Read it here.
Because Rapid City Councilwoman and Mayoral Candidate Laura Armstrong received an unsolicited report encouraging “exchanges of extensive amounts of technical and behavioral data,” she led an effort to retain the ability to watch funny cat videos on city employee government issued cell phones?
Despite a threat which is recognized by leaders on both sides of the political aisle. For more background, there’s a good article on Forbes.com:
Earlier this week, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers in Washington that he was “extremely concerned” that Beijing could weaponize data collected via the social media app TikTok. During a House Homeland Security hearing on current threats to the United States, the FBI head said that Beijing could harness the video-sharing app to influence users or even control their devices.
Wray’s warning came just days after Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) was joined by U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) in calling for a national ban on TikTok. At issue with Sen. Rubio and Rep. Gallagher is the fact that under China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, all of its citizens and businesses are required to assist in intelligence gathering, and must share any data with Beijing.
Experts stress that the threat from the Chinese-owned app isn’t exactly overstated.
and..
China is of course notorious for stealing American technology, particularly sophisticated military weaponry – which is why the U.S. Department of Defense has banned the use of TikTok on government-owned smartphones and other devices.
Read that here.
And as noted in the Rapid City Journal article, our own Governor has made effort to keep state information out of the hands of those who would share it with the Chinese government, as well as our Congressman Dusty Johnson who has been working on it at the federal level for months:
“TikTok is one of China’s Trojan horses,” said Johnson. “This app poses a national security threat and has safety implications for everyday Americans. I’m encouraged to see progress at both the federal and state level to prohibit TikTok on government devices, but there is still work to be done. I’m going to continue the effort to prohibit China’s access to Americans’ user data in the new Congress.”
19 states have banned the use and download of TikTok on state government devices.
Read that here.
This is not just a a one-sided argument, as the threat is recognized by both parties in Washington. It’s just curious that some feel the need to retain entertainment applications on government owned devices. No matter the risk.
