Douyin or its overseas version TikTok, and most of the servers that process data, etc., remain in China.

(Reuters file photo)

[Compilation of Chen Chengliang/Comprehensive Report] The US state of Maryland has announced that it will ban the use of TikTok (overseas version of Douyin), WeChat (WeChat) and some other product platforms based on China and Russia on government administrative equipment because they constitute unlawful conditions for the state. Accepted cyber security threats.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced an emergency cybersecurity order on the 6th, banning the use of Douyin, China's Tencent, Huawei, ZTE and Russia's Kaspersky, according to ABC News. certain products and platforms of entities that may be involved in cyber espionage, surveillance of government entities, and improper collection of sensitive personal information.

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The order applies to China's TikTok, Huawei, ZTE, Tencent, Alibaba, and Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.

According to the directive, agencies of the State Administration must remove any such products from the state network and implement measures to prevent the installation of such products.

The day before Maryland announced the ban, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster issued an order requiring the executive branch to prohibit anyone from logging into TikTok using any state government device.

A week ago, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem banned state employees and contractors from accessing TikTok on state-owned devices, citing ties to China.

In fact, as early as August 2020, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts (Pete Ricketts) issued a ban not allowing any state government devices to log in to TikTok.

The U.S. military has long since adopted this ban.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently warned that TikTok is controlled by the Chinese government, which may have national security concerns, and the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) even recommended that the United States completely ban TikTok.

Holden Triplett, a former FBI official who worked in Beijing and devoted himself to anti-interruption work, believes: "This is a risk that most governments are gradually realizing, and we don't need to take this risk."

The parent company of Douyin is ByteDance, which was previously headquartered in Beijing.

In 2020, in order to further promote the use of Douyin, ByteDance moved its headquarters to Singapore, but most of the servers that process data remain in China.