Georgia, New Hampshire joins Alabama in banning Tik Tok, Congress may be next

Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire have banned TikTok. This follows a similar move by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. All three have ordered state workers not to use the popular messaging applications on their computer devices controlled by their state governments. The Republicans issued their orders Thursday, also banning the messaging app WeChat. Kemp also banned another app called Telegram. Congress is in the process of making a similar ban on the federal level. Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is introducing a bill that would ban federal workers from using Tik Tok. Two members of the U.S. House are writing a companion bill. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey ordered State government to stop using the platform. Her office issued a release saying that privacy is the issue. Ivey is among Tik Tok’s critics who say the app harvests data from its users. Tik Tok is creating a Trust and Safety team to counter its detractors. Georgia Governor Kemp says there's too much risk that the Chinese government can access the private information of TikTok users. They are among at least Republican governors to take such an action. There are also calls for Congress to ban the use of the programs from federal government computers. Critics say they fear the Chinese government is gaining access to critical information through the application and could be using it to spread misinformation or propaganda.