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> The app has already been banned on state-issued devices in 28 states and is facing a blanket ban across all federal employees that would prohibit them from us

> The app has already been banned on state-issued devices in 28 states and is facing a blanket ban across all federal employees that would prohibit them from using or downloading TikTok on government-owned devices. Is it just me, or does this sound completely reasonable and not at all newsworthy? Why were government employees, with government-owned devices, allowed to install any third party apps (much less social media apps) to begin with? I don't need any security clearance for my job yet my employer MDM-managed device only allows about 10 work-approved apps to be installed.

pessimizer 4y ago
> Is it just me, or does this sound completely reasonable and not at all newsworthy? It's not even you. You seem to find it notable that government employees were allowed to install social media apps at all, so you must find it baffling that they banned TikTok and didn't ban the others.
- blondin 4y ago
  well, most government have a social media presence. it seems easier to reach people that way. why wouldn't they allow these apps on employees devices, or at least some employees?
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ThinkBeat 4y ago
It is reasonable to ban all social media of any kind of on an employee phone in my opinion. The government deciding that you can use set of social media apps but not another one is not as reasonable. (Somewhat depending on what classifies as social media, where I would put "hooking up sites" in a different category)
- TAForObvReasons 4y ago
  It is not unreasonable for governments to require all apps be published by US companies
  - dpkirchner 4y ago
    What counts as a US company? TikTok Inc is based out of California.
    - sidlls 4y ago
      The beneficial owners are the CCP, via Bytedance.
    - klipklop 4y ago
      Go interview there. At a high enough level everyone you interview with is in mainland China. They are a Californian company only in name. The guys running the company are in China. They don’t even do a good job hiding it.
      - slim 4y ago
        Then US should make it a law that companies must be owned by americans (other countries have this kind of law) otherwise it's just racism and you would'n't mind if the company was ran by Swedish people
        klipklop 4y ago
        Trying to make this about race is lame. A weak straw man. (Reasonable and educated) People in the US don’t care about the race of TikTok upper management, they care about the influence of a hostile government that is openly waging a fourth-generation war with the US. Sweden for example is not. TikTok posing as an independent California company when we all know that is not the case is not helping them.
        4y ago
tenpies 4y ago
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aaron695 4y ago
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diebeforei485 4y ago
> Why were government employees, with government-owned devices, allowed to install any third party apps (much less social media apps) to begin with? Communicating with the public can be part of their job. In some cases they write and send tweets themselves. In other cases they might have a whole team handling their social media.
- jimbo9991 4y ago
  In 99% of cases they should be fired. Sure, if they are an ambassador or US congressman, they are expected to be public figures. If they are influential and expected to influence and have a high up role, then maybe they should have some ability to influence given that they are influencing their department. The idea that somebody working for the government that has an opinion should naturally be given any kind of voice whatsoever is ridiculous. If it's not part of their job they need to be fired immediately.
  - Brybry 4y ago
    Social media communication by the government is hugely advantageous for the public. From youtube streams of meetings to twitter and facebook posts of government news (ex. weather/disaster alerts, public health issues, traffic accidents, voting date reminders) to vimeo uploads of police body camera footage. The amount of easy transparency and important information delivered directly to citizens in a way they can choose to engage with is a big step in the right direction. Before you basically had some traditional media (ex. radio/newspaper/nightly news) or you were required to have the free time to attend government functions yourself. You might say "Then why not use official websites?" but there are many thousands of government websites for each agency/department/committee/public figure and while they have very useful information they are not good at what social media does.
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JohnClark1337 4y ago
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tomjen3 4y ago
Right now there is a thing (hashtag?) called BookTok on TikTok, where teens share recommendations for books. Its apparently big enough that librarians notice that there is a run on these books when they break. Given that, unless TikTok is banned in general it would be a very hard case to make that a librarian shouldn't be using BookTok, when it measurably gets teens to read. Sure you could make arguments against social media in general, and national security issues with TikTok specifically, but that is not the job of a librarian. If you work in a library and find out one of your direct reports have installed Instagram on her government phone and is sharing stories about book recommendations or better ways to you use the library, and it is having an effect, then you are a bad boss if you do not support her.
Tangurena2 4y ago
Our state (KY) has not passed a ban yet, but there are 2 bills to do so and I expect them to be passed next week when the legislature resumes. The state IT dept is already blocking TikTok's website. The way the bills are worded, the network ban will also include public libraries, schools and universities from being allowed to access the website. 0 - Senate Bill 20. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23rs/sb20.html https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23rs/sb20.html 1 - House Bill 124. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23rs/hb124.html https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23rs/hb124.html

pessimizer 4y ago

> Is it just me, or does this sound completely reasonable and not at all newsworthy? It's not even you. You seem to find it notable that government employees were allowed to install social media apps at all, so you must find it baffling that they banned TikTok and didn't ban the others.

blondin 4y ago
well, most government have a social media presence. it seems easier to reach people that way. why wouldn't they allow these apps on employees devices, or at least some employees?
- deleted 4y ago
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- deleted 4y ago
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deleted 4y ago
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ThinkBeat 4y ago

It is reasonable to ban all social media of any kind of on an employee phone in my opinion. The government deciding that you can use set of social media apps but not another one is not as reasonable. (Somewhat depending on what classifies as social media, where I would put "hooking up sites" in a different category)

TAForObvReasons 4y ago
It is not unreasonable for governments to require all apps be published by US companies
- dpkirchner 4y ago
  What counts as a US company? TikTok Inc is based out of California.
  - sidlls 4y ago
    The beneficial owners are the CCP, via Bytedance.
  - klipklop 4y ago
    Go interview there. At a high enough level everyone you interview with is in mainland China. They are a Californian company only in name. The guys running the company are in China. They don’t even do a good job hiding it.
    - slim 4y ago
      Then US should make it a law that companies must be owned by americans (other countries have this kind of law) otherwise it's just racism and you would'n't mind if the company was ran by Swedish people
      - klipklop 4y ago
        Trying to make this about race is lame. A weak straw man. (Reasonable and educated) People in the US don’t care about the race of TikTok upper management, they care about the influence of a hostile government that is openly waging a fourth-generation war with the US. Sweden for example is not. TikTok posing as an independent California company when we all know that is not the case is not helping them.
        4y ago

tenpies 4y ago

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deleted 4y ago

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aaron695 4y ago

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diebeforei485 4y ago

> Why were government employees, with government-owned devices, allowed to install any third party apps (much less social media apps) to begin with? Communicating with the public can be part of their job. In some cases they write and send tweets themselves. In other cases they might have a whole team handling their social media.

jimbo9991 4y ago
In 99% of cases they should be fired. Sure, if they are an ambassador or US congressman, they are expected to be public figures. If they are influential and expected to influence and have a high up role, then maybe they should have some ability to influence given that they are influencing their department. The idea that somebody working for the government that has an opinion should naturally be given any kind of voice whatsoever is ridiculous. If it's not part of their job they need to be fired immediately.
- Brybry 4y ago
  Social media communication by the government is hugely advantageous for the public. From youtube streams of meetings to twitter and facebook posts of government news (ex. weather/disaster alerts, public health issues, traffic accidents, voting date reminders) to vimeo uploads of police body camera footage. The amount of easy transparency and important information delivered directly to citizens in a way they can choose to engage with is a big step in the right direction. Before you basically had some traditional media (ex. radio/newspaper/nightly news) or you were required to have the free time to attend government functions yourself. You might say "Then why not use official websites?" but there are many thousands of government websites for each agency/department/committee/public figure and while they have very useful information they are not good at what social media does.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

JohnClark1337 4y ago

[dead]

tomjen3 4y ago

Right now there is a thing (hashtag?) called BookTok on TikTok, where teens share recommendations for books. Its apparently big enough that librarians notice that there is a run on these books when they break. Given that, unless TikTok is banned in general it would be a very hard case to make that a librarian shouldn't be using BookTok, when it measurably gets teens to read. Sure you could make arguments against social media in general, and national security issues with TikTok specifically, but that is not the job of a librarian. If you work in a library and find out one of your direct reports have installed Instagram on her government phone and is sharing stories about book recommendations or better ways to you use the library, and it is having an effect, then you are a bad boss if you do not support her.

Tangurena2 4y ago

Our state (KY) has not passed a ban yet, but there are 2 bills to do so and I expect them to be passed next week when the legislature resumes. The state IT dept is already blocking TikTok's website. The way the bills are worded, the network ban will also include public libraries, schools and universities from being allowed to access the website. 0 - Senate Bill 20. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23rs/sb20.html https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23rs/sb20.html 1 - House Bill 124. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23rs/hb124.html https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23rs/hb124.html