Following a December 2022 directive from Abbott prohibiting employees from downloading or using TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company Bytedance Ltd., on government-issued devices. He also ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Department of Information Resources to develop the plan to guide state agencies on managing personal and state-issued devices used to conduct state business. State agencies have until Feb. 15 to issue their own policies to enforce the statewide ban.
"The security risks associated with the use of TikTok on devices used to conduct important business of our state must not be underestimated or ignored," Abbott said. "Owned by a Chinese company that employs Communist Party members, TikTok harvests significant amounts of data from a user's device, including details about a user's Internet activity. Other prohibited technologies listed in the statewide model plan also produce a similar threat to the security of Texans."
Under the statewide plan, downloading or using TikTok on state-issued devices, including cell phones, laptops, tablets, desktop computers, and other electronics capable of Internet connectivity, is prohibited. The plan also bans employees or contractors from conducting state business on prohibited technology-enabled personal devices and requires agencies to to identify sensitive locations, meetings, or personnel that could be exposed to prohibited technology-enabled personal devices. Such devices will be denied entry or use in sensitive areas, according to the plan.
The plan also requires agencies to implement network-based restrictions to prevent the use of prohibited technologies on agency networks by any device and to work with information security professionals to continuously update the list of prohibited technologies.
"It is critical that state agencies and employees are protected from the vulnerabilities presented by the use of this app and other prohibited technologies as they work on behalf of their fellow Texans," Abbott said. "I thank the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Department of Information Resources for their hard work helping safeguard the state's sensitive information and critical infrastructure from potential threats posed by hostile foreign actors."
Multiple Texas universities responded to Abbott's directive by banning students from accessing the app on campus Wi-Fi. Other states, including South Dakota, South Carolina and Maryland, have also banned TikTok on government-issued devices. The U.S. Department, Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security has also banned use of the app on devices issued by the federal government.
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