SB1459 prohibits any employee or agent of any public body or person or entity contracting with any such public body from downloading or using any application, including TikTok or WeChat, or accessing any website developed by ByteDance Ltd. or Tencent Holdings Ltd. (i) on any government-issued device or government-owned or government-leased equipment.
The Virginia State Assembly passed SB1459 on April 12, 2023 by a vote of 65 to 29. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because companies such as ByteDance, a Chinese company that owns TikTok, are accused of utilizing their platform and algorithms to promote propaganda aligned with the Chinese Communist Party. Moreover, there are concerns that they collect and retain personal user information for the purpose of surveillance on American citizens.