Pavelski bans TikTok from county devices

By Brandi Makuski

Portage Co. Executive John Pavelski today announced that the social media platform TikTok has been formally banned from use on county government devices.

The move comes two weeks after Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order banning TikTok from state-issued devices. The platform was also banned from all UW campuses last month.

Nearly half of the states across the nation have blocked the popular social media app owned by a Chinese company, citing potential risks to privacy, safety and security.

Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District and Chair of the Select Committee on China, called the app “A CCP [Chinese Communist Party] trojan horse,” one that can “track someone’s location, monitor their keystrokes, and collect other pieces of sensitive information about them. This app belongs nowhere near any part of our government and I’m glad Governor Evers finally made the decision to ban TikTok on state devices.”

Pavelski said based on those decisions, and after discussing the issue internally with county’s IT department, the county believes the app is a security risk the county can’t afford.

“I cannot and will not accept the risk TikTok poses to the county’s security,” Pavelski said in a news release on Monday. “There is very little legitimate need for utilizing TikTok professionally by county employees, so banning use from county devices should be virtually painless.”