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Banning TikTok App From State Issued Cell Phones Underway

West Virginia Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, sent a letter to Gov. Jim Justice, requesting a ban on downloading the Chinese owned TikTok and WeChat apps to all state issued cell phones, laptops and other devices.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

This story was updated Dec 19, 2022 at 3:34 p.m.

Citing concerns over a possible cybersecurity breach, West Virginia Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, sent a letter to Gov. Jim Justice, requesting a ban on downloading the Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat apps to all state issued cell phones, laptops and other devices.

Before any word from Justice, State Auditor J.B. McCuskey, working with Weld, has issued his own departmental TikTok ban.

“That’s due to the fact that there are a significant amount of security concerns as a result of the companies that own those two apps,” Weld said. “Those two companies are owned by extremely large Chinese tech firms and there have been some concerns regarding the security of information collected by those apps.”

Weld, who is the chair of the Senate Military Committee and former Air Force intelligence officer, said the sites pose a threat of a cyber attack on both the nation and the state.

“Under Chinese law, the government has the authority to demand that those two companies give to them all the data that they’ve collected through the people that download and use those apps on their phones or tablets, whatever,” Weld said.

In a press release issued just after noon Monday, McKuskey mandated a TikTok ban on state government devices and all computer networks associated with the Auditor’s Office. The ban includes government issued devices used by WV Oasis, which is the central repository for all the state’s financial data, including payroll, and devices within the many departments of the State Auditor’s Office.

McKuskey said in the release that the Auditor’s Office functions as the chief information officer for the state. He said this move will serve to protect the state’s core financial infrastructure from intrusion by those who wish to harm us.

“I am so thankful to work with Senator Weld on this incredibly important initiative,” McCuskey said. “We have seen the threat that China and its government poses to our critical infrastructure and this move is a proactive approach to protect the taxpayers of West Virginia.”

In the release, McCuskey also said that he and Weld are preparing legislation that prohibits nations of concern from acquiring property through the West Virginia property tax sale process. He said there have already been instances where countries from this list, which includes Russia, China and North Korea, are harming American interests through this process.

Weld said 16 states and several federal agencies have already enacted a TikTok ban.

“A ban for the same federal level cell phones and other devices passed the U.S. Senate last week,” Weld said. “A number of federal agencies, the Department of State Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, as well as several federal contractors like Lockheed Martin, they’ve already banned their employees from having those apps on their phones.”

The federal TikTok phone ban has been supported by both the Trump and Biden administrations. Weld said the TikTok app has been downloaded more than 100 million times in the United States. There was no mention on the West Virginia level of banning TikTok on any private cell phones, laptops or other devices.

Late Monday afternoon, the Governor’s office responded to Weld’s request with this statement:
“The Governor understands and shares Senator Weld’s concerns as they relate to our state’s cybersecurity resiliency, and especially his concern of foreign influence. The good news is there are policies and procedures already in place which are designed to protect our state networks from cyber threats related to Chinese-owned TikTok and related apps. Josh Spence, our Chief Information Officer, and his team constantly monitor and implement cybersecurity policies and technical controls to mitigate cyber risk, protecting government-owned devices and the network as a whole. TikTok has already been blocked on state networks for many months, and the use of additional security controls further mitigates the risk. The Governor has confidence in his cybersecurity team to protect our state networks from cyber threats and to communicate best practices to cybersecurity teams across other branches of state and local government. It’s important to keep in mind that TikTok is hardly the only threat—there are millions of cyber events targeting the state from all over the world thwarted each year by our cybersecurity team.”

Wheeling Bans Conversion Therapy

Wheeling has banned a discredited therapy aimed at LGBTQ people.

Members of the Wheeling city council voted 4-3 Tuesday night to approve an ordinance banning conversion therapy in the city.

Conversion therapy is a practice of attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The city code does exempt counseling from clergy and religious officials acting in a pastoral or religious capacity and not in the capacity of a medical or mental health professional.

In a written version of his remarks prior to the council’s vote, Wheeling mayor Glenn Elliott said the ordinance has caused him to reflect on the work the council is charged with.

“We live in a world where both our federal government and the State of West Virginia have failed to provide basic civil rights protections to members of the LGBTQ community,” Elliot said.

He cited seven professional organizations, including the American Medical Association, that have publicly opposed conversion therapy.

“They not only assert that conversion therapy is cruel, but they also affirm that it does not work,” Elliot said.

Wheeling joins Charleston and Morgantown in defining the practice as discriminatory and unlawful.

Bipartisan attempts at passing a statewide ban in the legislature have been unsuccessful.

County Board of Education Proposes E-Cigarette Ban

A West Virginia board of education is listening to public comments on a policy revision that would ban e-cigarettes and all substances containing nicotine from property that the school system owns or operates.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the Kanawha County Board of Education put the changes out for public comment Monday. School system General Counsel Jim Withrow says concerns were raised regarding e-cigarettes or vapes that don’t contain tobacco, but have nicotine.

The school system currently has a 1997 policy in place, banning tobacco. The proposed changes would add nicotine and e-cigarettes to the existing tobacco prohibition policy. It would also ban substances containing nicotine from all property that is owned, leased or operated by the school system.

Are smoking bans working at Marshall and WVU?

With smoking bans at both of the state’s largest higher education institutions in full effect since July 1^st, it’s now that students are back on both campuses that the real test begins.

Since July 1^stMarshall’s campuses have observed a tobacco ban, banning students, professors and staff from smoking anywhere on campus. But only since the beginning of last week have students inundated the main campus in Huntington after the start of the fall semester. Marshall University student Will Vance said he’s just had to change his routine.

“During the day I guess out of courtesy I walk out to the perimeter of the school, you know there going from having three people outside a building to having a perimeter of people around the school smoking, I don’t really think that helps the schools image,” Vance said.

Amy Saunders is director of student health on campus. She said people smoking on the public sidewalks around campus isn’t new, but it’s not nearly the problem some might think.

“I don’t really even think it’s been that hard for us, it seems like it’s been a really good thing, but what you have happen is when you change the environment, you have the culture and the norm start to change and the culture isn’t really supportive of that behavior and so hopefully what we’ll see down the road is more people will adapt to the healthy behavior.,” Saunders said.

Saunders said they don’t want to have to start citing students or add the rule to the student code of conduct. Instead, she says university officials feel like if it’s given time things will gradually change on campus, as they already are.

Vance said he’s not sure how things will work on campus in the coming months. He says students might become more tempted to smoke near the buildings instead of outside of campus as fall changes to winter.

“Especially when it starts getting cold, people aren’t going to want to walk all the way out there, people are just going to smoke out front, there’s not much the school can do about it right now and I hope that they don’t,” Vance said.

Saunders said she hopes the colder months have the opposite effect.

“We don’t want to go that route to have to do citations or anything, that will be difficult to do, our hope is that we’ll see a lot of people that will want to quit when that times comes, is that addiction going to be so strong that it will compel you to go out there on the sidewalk? And for some people, yes unfortunately it will, but for some people that might be a game changer for them, where they say I want to change this behavior,” Saunders said.

Marshall’s student health department is offering smoking cessation classes throughout the year to help those that decide the new ban is the time to change things.