WEST BEND, WI— Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) today applauded Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann for his decision to ban TikTok on Washington County government devices.

TikTok is a trojan horse that gives the Chinese Communist Party access to your data and the ability to track your location and monitor your keystrokes. It’s common sense to prevent this spyware from being downloaded onto to government phones, and I commend County Executive Schoemann for taking this step to better protect Wisconsinites,” said Rep. Gallagher. “I hope more County Executives, as well as Governor Evers, follow this example and ensure no government device has TikTok on their phone.”

Noting the national security risks of TikTok, Schoemann said, “what initially seemed to be a fun, innocent social media entertainment we now know is an insidious, deceptive tool that is being weaponized by the Chinese Communist Party. The continued use of TikTok is clearly a potential threat to our security and will not be allowed on our devices here in Washington County.” 

TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is required by Chinese law to make the app’s data available to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The FBI Director, FCC Commissioners, and cybersecurity experts have warned about the risk of TikTok being used to spy on Americans. 

Rep. Gallagher recently introduced legislation that would ban TikTok nationally and sent a letter to Governor Evers calling on him to ban TikTok from all state government devices. 

Rep. Gallagher also wrote a joint op-ed with Senator Rubio in the Washington Post last month, writing that “Congress needs to act against the TikTok threat before it’s too late.”

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