In an effort to move legislation forward, state Rep. Michael Soter (R-Worcester) added his TikTok ban bill to the governor's supplemental budget bill.
The bill would ban TikTok from all state government-issued devices, closely mirroring the bipartisan federal legislation passed by Congress. This comes as the White House is giving federal agencies 30 days to remove TikTok from all of their devices.
Soter said adding it to the supplemental budget will hopefully start a conversation about the threat the app poses to important data.
"I'm hoping what the governor will do is look at that and say, 'Well you know, when I was AG I was going after Tik Tok, I was investigating Tik Tok and this gives me a great opportunity to work in a bipartisan way,'" Soter said. "We have to all take suit and follow the federal government and do what they have done with their federal devices. "
Lawmakers still have to pass Soter's amendment in the supplemental budget bill. The ban would not apply to private devices. Soter said even if someone is a government employee, they can still use the app, just not on a government device.