Florida’s Ron DeSantis signs bills limiting Chinese land ownership, TikTok at schools
- Citing a threat from China, the governor moved to curb real estate purchases by Chinese nationals and ban Chinese apps from school and government servers
- A third bill forbids colleges and universities from accepting gifts from and signing deals with colleges based in ‘foreign countries of concern’
Florida governor and presumptive US presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on Monday signed legislation that would ban the use of TikTok and other Chinese apps on school and government servers and limit land purchases by citizens from China, the latest moves by state authorities aimed at countering perceived threats from Beijing.
The three China-related bills that DeSantis signed, passed with bipartisan support by the Republican-controlled legislature, also include one that prohibits universities in the southeastern coastal state from accepting any funds from China.
“Today, we’re really recognising the threat [from China], and we’re taking action,” DeSantis said in a press briefing.
Other nations labelled as “countries of concern” in the bills are Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria.
The law on prohibited applications orders DeSantis’ administration to create a list of apps “created, maintained, or owned by a foreign principal and that engage in specific activities that endanger cybersecurity; or ... present a security risk in the form of unauthorized access to or temporary unavailability of a public employer’s information technology systems or data.
“This definition will likely include TikTok and WeChat,” according to a summary of the bill by the Florida legislature.
