(22 News WWLP – Kristina D’Amours) 22News is hearing from local state lawmakers, after Montana became the first state to ban the app TikTok.
22News spoke with State Senator John Velis who is in support of a TikTok ban on all government devices in the state of Massachusetts, but also tells us that the Montana ban is ‘complicated’ and that it may infringe on first amendment rights, but also believes the app is a threat to national security.
“The People’s Republic of China is vastly different from America in that its a authoritarian state. There is no question that if they were to give directions to a company to hand over data, there wouldn’t be much of a conversation,” Velis says. “I think that is what the concern is, that is why you are hearing the FBI and other intelligence saying that TikTok is a real risk.”
There is a bill that is currently filed in Massachusetts that proposes a TikTok ban on state government devices. Velis says he is waiting on a hearing date to be announced on that soon.