USA: TikTok has been outlawed on government equipment in several states including Michigan. However, there are some exceptions, including Governor Gretchen Whitmer, whose popular account has nearly 200,000 followers.

As of March 1, TikTok has been "restricted to state devices," according to Michigan's acting chief security officer, Jason Cavendish, who told local reporters. The state authorities took the initiative to ban the app earlier this month.

In 2020, according to Cavendish, the video-sharing application was put into "surveillance mode", allowing official tools to access the site, but only after receiving a security warning to discourage use.

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Although the standalone app can still be downloaded on government-issued devices, TikTok is no longer accessible through a web browser.

According to local media, the state government has carved out some exceptions to the new rule, allowing officials to use the app for "publicity" and law enforcement purposes.

So Governor Whitmer, who regularly updates her more than 195,000 followers on TikTok, will be able to continue using it.

Since the ban went into effect, the governor's account has posted several times, but officials say she uses a secure device and has never connected to any government networks.

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This is a device issued by the state of Michigan, but it complies with established regulations subject to exceptions. Exceptions, according to Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy, "are for any department that feels they need it to communicate with the public or for investigative purposes.

He also said that so far, only Whitmer's office has requested a similar exemption from the state.

The federal government and at least 25 state governments have implemented similar restrictions on official equipment, according to a Yahoo Finance count.

This prompted many to do the same after FBI Director Christopher Wray claimed that the Chinese government could access the data collected by the app. Similar privacy and national security concerns have been raised by several state and federal officials, including the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, which in December said it was looking into potential "threats" associated with TikTok.

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Allegations that TikTok provided data to the Chinese government have been denied, but Beijing says the US crackdown on the site is aimed only at "cracking foreign companies".

Beijing claims Washington "abused the concept of national security and state power" to target the famous video-sharing platform, which has more than 1 billion monthly users worldwide.