Florida governor signs executive order aimed at protecting national security by securing user data

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order accompanied by a slew of legislative measures aimed at securing Americans’ personal user data on websites run by foreign governments like China, Russia, and others who may use the data to compromise national security.

“One of the things the [Chinese Communist Party] like to do is use technology to advance themselves and that includes trying to get personal information of Americans,” DeSantis said at the press conference where he signed the executive order.

“They are amassing a lot of data,” he said, referencing TikTok and some other platforms specifically. “It’s a huge national security risk.”

The executive order prevents state and local government departments from procuring software or services from any of the potentially dangerous web companies like TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.

“The last thing we want to see is the [Chinese Communist Party] getting their mitts onto people’s personal information,” DeSantis said at the press conference.

Some of the measures included in the proposals the governor introduced include prohibiting state entities from entering into contracts with ties to a “hostile” foreign government, banning the acceptance of gifts to state universities and colleges from those companies, and prevent allowing any foreign nationals with ties to the relevant companies from buying up farmlands and properties in the vicinity of  military bases in Florida.

Some lawmakers in Washington have also called for a crackdown on the influence of hostile governments on the US economy, and have introduced policies that would prevent the rampant buying up of American agricultural lands.