Maryland’s executive agencies will be barred from using the popular social media platform TikTok and other “Chinese and Russian-influenced products and platforms” because of cybersecurity risks, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Tuesday.
Hogan, a two-term Republican who will leave office next month, issued the emergency cybersecurity directive after governors in other states made similar moves and FBI director Chris Wray reiterated concerns about the app being a national security threat.
“There may be no greater threat to our personal safety and our national security than the cyber vulnerabilities that support our daily lives,” Hogan said in a statement. “As the cyber capital of America, Maryland has taken bold and decisive actions to prepare for and address cybersecurity threats. To further protect our systems, we are issuing this emergency directive against foreign actors and organizations that seek to weaken and divide us.”
