ANDREWS COUNTY, Texas — In the wake of Gov. Greg Abbott implementing a ban of the popular social media app TikTok on state-issued devices, multiple universities and counties have been following suit.
Collin County in North Texas banned the app at the beginning of 2023, and the restriction is slowly starting to trickle to other parts of the state.
Andrews County has now banned the app, County Judge Charlie Falcon confirmed with NewsWest 9 Friday.
This ban will prevent county employees from accessing TikTok on any county owned device such as cellphones or a computer.
Additionally, anyone using the county WiFi network will also be blocked from accessing the app.
This ban only extends to these situations, meaning if you live in Andrews County you will still be able to access TikTok on your own devices when not on the county network.
Mistrust and apprehension surrounding TikTok has been building over the past few years as accusations of privacy and security risks have been thrown about, particularly in regards to app's Chinese ownership.
The US government considered banning the app in 2020 during former President Donald Trump's term, though many expressed concern over the action potentially leading to limitations of freedom.
When President Biden took office, he revoked the executive order issued by his predecessor, but as the FCC and the FBI continued to express concern he signed a bill passed by congress at the end of 2023 banning the app on government devices.
Since the bill was signed, 27 states including Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin have issued some kind of ban of the app on state devices.