GOP congressmen urge Tony Evers to delete TikTok from state devices - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

WASHINGTON – Wisconsin's apical Republicans privation Gov. Tony Evers to delete TikTok.

In a missive to the Democratic politician Tuesday, the state's Republican delegation successful Washington called connected Evers to prohibition the fashionable video sharing app from authorities authorities devices and asked him to delete his ain account, arguing the Chinese authorities tin usage TikTok to spy connected users and beforehand Chinese Communist Party propaganda.

"Wisconsinites expect their politician to beryllium alert of the unsafe nationalist information threats TikTok poses and to support them from this avenue for CCP quality operations," the letter, signed by U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher, Tom Tiffany, Glenn Grothman, Bryan Steil and Scott Fitzgerald, arsenic good arsenic U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, read.

"As governor, you should prohibit this app from authorities authorities devices."

The missive to Evers comes amid renewed scrutiny of the telephone app and follows warnings from U.S. quality officials that TikTok, owned by the Beijing-based institution ByteDance, poses a imaginable nationalist information risk.

FBI Director Christopher Wray past period told Congress that the Chinese authorities could usage aspects of the app's programming to "control information postulation of millions of users oregon power the proposal algorithm, which tin beryllium utilized for power operations.” Wray has besides suggested the app could beryllium utilized to power the bundle connected devices, perchance compromising phones with the app.

It was not instantly wide however Evers, who used TikTok connected the run trail, would respond to the request. A spokesperson from the medication said the governor's bureau was reviewing the letter.

Gallagher, a Green Bay Republican who sits connected the House Permanent Select Committee connected Intelligence, has been outspoken successful his absorption to TikTok successful caller weeks, likening the telephone app to "digital fentanyl" and claiming it could let the Chinese authorities to way a user's determination and keystrokes.

In an op-ed published past period in the Washington Post, Gallagher and Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio called for the app, which reached 1 cardinal users past year, to beryllium banned successful the U.S.

"Unless TikTok and its algorithm tin beryllium separated from Beijing, the app’s usage successful the United States volition proceed to jeopardize our country’s information and pave the mode for a Chinese-influenced tech scenery here," the brace wrote.

TikTok officials, meanwhile, have testified that U.S. idiosyncratic information is stored successful the U.S. The app's Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Pappas told members of Congress that TikTok has ne'er shared information with the Chinese government.

The Tuesday missive from Wisconsin Republicans cited concerns from the quality community, arsenic good arsenic quality articles, including those connected however TikTok tin censor messages astatine likelihood with the Chinese authorities and monitor someone's circumstantial location.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, the Republicans enactment successful the letter, issued an enforcement order past week banning authorities employees from accessing TikTok connected state-owned devices.

"We powerfully impulse you to travel Governor Noem’s pb and analyse your ain ineligible authorities to prohibition TikTok from Wisconsin authorities authorities devices," the missive read.