NYC Bans TikTok on All City-Owned Devices

[MacRumors]

New York City has decided to ban TikTok from city-owned devices used by NYC employees, reports The Verge. The New York City Cyber Command said that TikTok is a "security threat to the city's technical networks."

City employees are no longer allowed to download or use the TikTok app on city-owned devices, and they are also not allowed to access the TikTok website. New York state previously banned TikTok on state-issued devices, but some employees were still able to use it for marketing purposes.

"While social media is great at connecting New Yorkers with one another and the city, we have to ensure we are always using these platforms in a secure manner," a NYC City Hall spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge Wednesday. "NYC Cyber Command regularly explores and advances proactive measures to keep New Yorkers' data safe."

U.S. government officials have been backing legislation that would result in a nationwide TikTok ban. There are concerns that U.S. TikTok data is stored in China, though TikTok owner ByteDance has said that is not the case.

As of earlier this year, TikTok is not allowed on federal devices and systems in the United States. The UK, European Union, Canada, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, and numerous other U.S. states also prohibit TikTok on government devices. Montana has gone as far as banning TikTok downloads and usage statewide, but TikTok has sued the state.

Article Link: NYC Bans TikTok on All City-Owned Devices

 

[tripsync]

lol oh boy this is going to get interesting.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Best news ever! This should be applied everywhere. I hate TikTok!

 

[DFZD]

Decades in future we will all be telling our grand kids.. that this logo was the symbol of cringe.

 

[tfresquezdxs]

Still think its bs.... if your gonna scrutinize the data that TikTok collects then you need to do the same with facebook, snap, twitter or X 😂, instagram, threads, etc.

 

[thadoggfather]

it's such a sideshow citing 'security' as the only concern with TikTok.

No its that they're demoralizing the public across the West, willfully, and in China they're getting engineering tips, and how to improve work ethic, and all kinds of other productive things whereas here we're being taught how to self destruct essentially

But yeah-- security is a problem too

 

[ethanwa79]

Can someone explain to me how TikTok is any worse than Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc etc?

It goes through the Apple review process. Apple restricts the data that TikTok can access without proper permissions via their API's and sandboxing.

It's an app to watch people make stupid 30 second videos.

It collects data on what you watch, your IP, email addresses, etc, just like all the other social media apps.

Where is the real threat here that's different than Facebook? Or is this just ignorance and Chinese fear mongering?

(Side note: I've been an iOS app developer myself for 15 years now)

 

[kinless]

The only Tik Tok I'll ever allow on my devices.

 

[Akrapovic]

We're concerned about TikTok maybe stealing sensitive data, whilst we know Meta is. It's odd to ban TikTok but not Facebook. But I guess China is bad eh.

Anyway, this is about city owned devices. Those should be for work only. Ban all social media on them.

 

[Andronicus]

Best news ever! This should be applied everywhere. I hate TikTok!

Please, do tell, all the things you hate so we may send them to the proper authorities to get them removed from other peoples devices.

 

[zakarhino]

They’ll keep ignoring how ByteDance have transformed their backend to keep US TikTok data in the US. Remember this is not actually about security concerns with the CPC spying, they just don’t like a Chinese company dominating the gen Z social media market without some formal connection to the state department like Zuck has.

If China have the capability to verify and trust that Apple keeps Chinese iCloud data in mainland China then how come we don’t have the ability to ensure US TikTok data stays here? 🤔

 

[stars_fan]

What is the definition of fascism agin

 

[surfzen21]

This legislation is about city employees using city-owned devices.

 

[surfzen21]

What is the definition of fascism agin

So the city providing city owned devices to employees shouldn't be allowed to dictate what is allowed on those devices? OK

It's wild to me that these devices are even allowed to access social media at all, unless its part of the job requirement such as a social media manager.

I'd like my train, subway and bus driver to concentrate on diving.

 

[crsh1976]

It's surprising it wasn't already blocked to begin with, most companies/governments block social and gaming sites/apps on service devices by default.

 

[Airforcekid]

What is the definition of fascism agin

While I’m a free speech supporter this can be viewed as a weapon in the same way China views Facebook and Twitter (X whatever Elon feels like today) as weapons. Even TikTok isn't allowed in China in its US form.

 

[maxsquared]

Wonder how much Meta would have spent to lobby for this.

 

[TSE]

Great. Tik Tok is making people dumber. MacRumors makes people smarter!

 

[sw1tcher]

Still think its bs.... if your gonna scrutinize the data that TikTok collects then you need to do the same with facebook, snap, twitter or X 😂, instagram, threads, etc.

This is about government-owned devices though.

Personally, I don't think any apps should be on your government provided work device(s) except for what's needed to do your job.

For your personal device, that's a different story.

 

[canadianreader]

Still think its bs.... if your gonna scrutinize the data that TikTok collects then you need to do the same with facebook, snap, twitter or X 😂, instagram, threads, etc.

True it's like they're doing this so people would feel safe using twitter, threads, facebook and insta.

 

[martint235]

So the city providing city owned devices to employees shouldn't be allowed to dictate what is allowed on those devices? OK

It's wild to me that these devices are even allowed to access social media at all, unless its part of the job requirement such as a social media manager.

I'd like my train, subway and bus driver to concentrate on diving.

Basically tik tok, and for that matter facebook et al, shouldn’t be on any business device public or private sector

 

[Naraxus]

But somehow it's not racist because of the D at the end of the mayor's last name.

Trump proven right once again.

 

[sw1tcher]

Best news ever! This should be applied everywhere. I hate TikTok!

"I hate TikTok. Therefore, no one should be able to use it because I said so."

Mueller Publishes Op-ed on TikTok, National Cybersecurity | School of Public Policy

Mueller claims that despite what some government officials argue, TikTok is not a threat to national cybersecurity.

spp.gatech.edu

The Case for TikTok: Social Media Ownership has Little Impact in Security Breaches | College of Computing

www.cc.gatech.edu

 

[zakarhino]

it's such a sideshow citing 'security' as the only concern with TikTok.

No its that they're demoralizing the public across the West, willfully, and in China they're getting engineering tips, and how to improve work ethic, and all kinds of other productive things whereas here we're being taught how to self destruct essentially

But yeah-- security is a problem too

That’s because the Chinese people complained about social media being a corrupting force and so the CPC tried to do something about it. It was all done out in the open with the consent and blessing of the public there. Thats basically how everything works in China, everything is transparent and accountable. When something is acting as a corrupting force, it gets stomped out.

We don’t have that law, culture, government, or standard for accountability so why should ByteDance compromise the stickiness of their algorithm to no longer reflect what Americans care about? They’re a business like everyone else right? Why don’t we ask for similar law to be passed like the Chinese did? The garbage that gets promoted on social media speaks to a deeper sickness in our society/culture that predates TikTok. Zoomers my age were already being exposed to this kinda demoralizing content on Facebook and Insta long before TikTok. If you want to go to the source go look at the advertising industry from literally half a century ago.

If it’s the fault of social media companies “willfully” promoting bad content in the west then we should start with Zuckerberg because he popularized and normalized social media for the young generation. ByteDance were simply late to the party but had a more potent formula.

It’s our fault, we are the only people to blame and the only people responsible for fixing it.

 

[surfzen21]

I think the security risk in a traditional sense might be overblown.

The argument can be made that any information put out by a foreign power to influence thought within a country can be classified as a security risk.

Pushing specific channels and ads to people is probably less subtle compared to dropping leaflets from a plane on a local population, but its along the same line of information control.