N.C. House representatives request Gov. Cooper to ban TikTok from government devices

RALEIGH, N.C. (WBTV) - Two North Carolina State House representatives penned a letter to Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday, requesting the ban of social media app TikTok from all state government devices.

Rep. Jason Saine of Lincoln County and Rep. Jon Hardister of Guilford County, signed the letter, calling the requested ban “a matter of national security.”

Several states, including South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia, have already banned the social media site on government computers.

A similar ban is also being sought by members of Congress, with lawmakers going as far as including it in a massive spending bill, according to the Associated Press.

The full letter from Saine and Hardister can be read below:

“The Honorable Governor Roy Cooper,

We respectfully urge your administration to issue an executive order that bans TikTok from all government devices in North Carolina. This is a matter of national security, and it is imperative that action be taken swiftly and decisively.

As we know, the Chinese government is constantly working to infiltrate our communications and access intellectual data within the United States. If sensitive data is breached, it could pose both an economic and a security threat for North Carolina. We have a responsibility to prevent this from happening, which is why we are urging an executive order to be issued as soon as possible.

Several other states have taken this action, and we recently learned that the Chief Administration Officer of the United States Congress banned TikTok from devices that are used by staff on Capitol Hill. It is time for North Carolina to follow-suit and do what is necessary to promote state and national security.

If there is no executive order, we will work swiftly in the upcoming 2023 legislative session to advance legislation to ban TikTok on all government-issued devices in North Carolina. However, it is our hope that vour office will take swift and immediate action to address this matter in the interest of enhancing our domestic security and protecting our citizens.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Please feel free to contact us if you wish to discuss this further.”

Related: New push in Washington to ban TikTok nationwide

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