The social media app TikTok is grabbing more eyes than the 15-second videos you may find. State houses across the country are banning the app on government devices. Both chambers of the United States Congress have a similar measure tied in with its $1.6 trillion omnibus spending plan. U.S. Rep Mike Gallagher wants to take it further, saying the app should be banned altogether because of its ties to the Chinese government. He told Fox News last week that TikTok could potentially “propagandize young Americans” by controlling the news content they find on it. He has also called it “digital fentanyl,” as it is highly addictive and highly destructive. Chad Mielke, the digital forensics expert with the Door County Sheriff’s Department and Sturgeon Bay Police Department, says TikTok shares some of the same cybersecurity concerns other social media apps have just because of the data it collects. He says there are ways to keep your kids as safe as possible on TikTok if you allow them to have it.

According to Statista, there have been over three billion downloads of the TikTok app, with the average user spending over 90 minutes daily on it. Mielke will host a presentation on mobile app safety on March 6th, 2023, at Sevastopol after hosting a session at Sturgeon Bay School District last month. He hopes to hold presentations at Gibraltar and Southern Door in the near future.

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