South Dakota governor bans TikTok from state agencies over ‘intelligence gathering’ concerns

South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem has banned state agencies from using the social media platform TikTok, claiming in a statement that the Chinese-owned app is a data gathering tool for Beijing.

In a statement released by Ms Noem’s office, she said the ban was issued "in response to the growing national security threat posed by TikTok due to its data gather operations on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party."

"South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us," she said in the statement. "The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data of the devices that access the platform."

Ms Noem said she has the "serious duty to protect the private data of South Dakota citizens," and that she hopes "other states will follow South Dakota’s lead, and Congress should take broader actions, as well."

The ban will affect all state government employees and contractors who use state-owned mobile devices, according to the directive. The executive order banning the social media app prohibits users from downloading it or visiting the website via browser.

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a private, Beijing-based tech giant.

The company pushed back on a report from Forbes last month claiming the app was planning to use location tracking software to keep tabs on "some specific Americans citizens."

TikTok said the report lacked "both rigor and journalistic integrity," according to CNBC.

According to TikTok, Forbes "chose not to include the portion of our statement that disproved the feasibility of its core allegations: TikTok does not collect precise GPS location information from US users, meaning TikTok could not monitor US users in the way the article suggested."

A Forbes spokesperson told CNBC they are "confident in our sourcing, and we stand by our reporting."

Ms Noem isn’t the only Republican taking aim at TikTok; US Senators Marco Rubio and Mike Gallagher recently explained their concerns over the platform in a Washington Post opinion piece.

"TikTok is a major threat to US national security," they wrote. "Unless TikTok and its algorithm can be separated from Beijing, the app’s use in the United States will continue to jeopardize our country’s safety and pave the way for a Chinese-influenced tech landscape here."

In upcoming Congressional meetings lawmakers will vote on the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, which will force software developers — including TikTok — to disclose when private data is being stored or accessed by entities other than the app, and provide a means for opting-out of having their information shared.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce advanced the ADPPA to a full House hearing with a 53-2 vote.