SEE IT: Sen. Ron Johnson and others urge Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to ban TikTok
Julia Johnson
Video Embed
Federal lawmakers representing Wisconsin sent a letter to Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) Tuesday urging him to ban the social media app TikTok on state devices.
The letter requests that Evers “ban TikTok from Wisconsin government devices and to lead by example and delete TikTok from your own devices,” calling the social media “nefarious Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spyware.”
Signatories of the letter included only Republican members of the state’s delegation to the House of Representatives and Senate. Sen. Ron Johnson (R) and Reps. Mike Gallagher (R), Scott Fitzgerald (R), Bryan Steil (R), Glenn Grothman (R), and Tom Tiffany (R) signed on to the request.
WATCH: SALLY FIELD SAYS SHE IS FRIGHTENED BY CHALLENGES TO ABORTION RIGHTS AND LGBT COMMUNITY
iFrame Object
“These concerns are not localized at the federal level — this affects the Wisconsin state government and Wisconsinites at large,” the lawmakers warned.
They further asked the governor for an explanation if he should choose not to ban the app on state devices or delete it from his own.
Evers’s office did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
This comes after other states, such as South Dakota and South Carolina, have taken action to disallow TikTok on state devices.
Last week, Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) issued an executive order banning the app on state-owned or state-leased devices. “South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us,” she said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
On Monday, Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC) similarly sent a letter to the executive director of the state Department of Administration, directing her to “permanently” remove it from state devices. However, some state agencies are not overseen by the department and are thus “siloed.” He echoed his encouragement of these agencies to partner with the department and asked for a list of those who continue to operate in silos.