An oft-challenged social media app is fighting back against potential federal regulation as Texas states, municipalities and school districts take action.

Governor Greg Abbott instructed state agencies to govern the use of the social media application on personal devices no later than Feb. 15 after ordering a ban on all state government-issued devices in December 2022. The action followed a lawsuit the state filed against the popular social media company originating in China.

“While TikTok has claimed that it stores U.S. data within the U.S., the company admitted in a letter to Congress that China-based employees can have access to U.S. data,” Abbott said in the news release announcing the ban. “It has also been reported that ByteDance planned to use TikTok location information to surveil individual American citizens.” 

Because there is no overall federal policy regarding TikTok, state guidance and potential regulation impacts municipalities and school districts. Several colleges and universities have also taken action to ban the social media app on the back of concerns raised by Abbott and other states that have also sued TikTok over data protection concerns and the well-being of young users.

The city of Wylie has no official policy against using TikTok, according to Public Information Officer Craig Kelly, but using the app is covered by the overall social media guidelines. Employees are prohibited from using social media if it conflicts with their duties as a city employee.

The policy also covers any potential use by employees on city internet networks and computer systems, some of which are provided by the city. Wylie does not currently maintain a TikTok account; however, Discover Wylie, which lists the city as a partner, has a TikTok account.

For the full story, see the Feb. 8 issue of The Wylie News.