UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS SB 20/EN
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SB002020.100 - 857 - XXXX 3/16/2023 10:04 AM Engrossed
AN ACT relating to banning social media applications from state government 1
technology and declaring an emergency. 2
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 3
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 61 IS CREATED TO 4
READ AS FOLLOWS: 5
(1) For the purposes of this section, "TikTok" means the social networking service 6
owned by the Chinese company ByteDance Limited or any successor application. 7
(2) Except as provided in subsection (7)(b) of this section, no executive branch 8
employee, executive branch agency, or person or entity who contracts with the 9
Commonwealth shall download or use the TikTok application or visit the TikTok 10
website on any: 11
(a) Network owned, operated, or otherwise under the control of state 12
government; or 13
(b) State government-issued device, including but not limited to: 14
1. Cellphone; 15
2. Computer; or 16
3. Any other device capable of Internet connectivity. 17
(3) The Commonwealth Office of Technology shall implement controls to prevent the 18
use of TikTok for the executive branch agencies in which it has control over the 19
network, and on any device connected to a network, owned, operated, or 20
otherwise under control of the Commonwealth Office of Technology. 21
(4) No member of the General Assembly, legislative staff, legislative agency or entity, 22
or person or entity who contracts with the General Assembly, Legislative 23
Research Commission, or legislative branch shall download or use the TikTok 24
application or visit the TikTok website on any: 25
(a) Network owned, operated, or otherwise under the control of state 26
government; or 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS SB 20/EN
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SB002020.100 - 857 - XXXX 3/16/2023 10:04 AM Engrossed
(b) State government-issued device, including but not limited to: 1
1. Cellphone; 2
2. Computer; or 3
3. Any other device capable of Internet connectivity. 4
(5) The legislative branch of state government shall implement controls to prevent 5
the use of TikTok on any device connected to any network owned, operated, or 6
otherwise under the control of the legislative branch of state government. 7
(6) The judicial branch of state government may implement controls to prevent the 8
use of TikTok on any device connected to any network owned, operated, or 9
otherwise under the control of judicial branch of state government. 10
(7) This section shall not apply to any: 11
(a) Public postsecondary education institution operating under KRS Chapter 12
164; or 13
(b) Executive branch agency that determines that the use of TikTok is 14
necessary for: 15
1. Law enforcement activities; 16
2. Civil investigations or civil enforcement activities; or 17
3. Research on security practices or security threats; 18
so long as the agency takes appropriate steps to obtain the necessary access 19
without endangering the agency's network, or any other network owned, 20
operated, or otherwise under the control of state government. 21
Section 2. Whereas preserving the safety, security, privacy, and way of life of 22
the Commonwealth and its citizens is of paramount importance, and the state must take 23
steps to prevent the collection of private data of Kentucky citizens by platforms such as 24
TikTok that may share sensitive information with foreign governments, an emergency is 25
declared to exist, and this Act takes effect upon its passage and approval by the Governor 26
or upon its otherwise becoming a law. 27