South Carolina became the second state in the union Monday to permanently ban state employees’ electronic devices from using TikTok amid federal officials sounding the alarm that the Chinese-based social media app threatens national security.

Growing security concerns over the social media platform have caught lawmakers’ attention recently after the Federal Communications Commission said the government agency could not regulate the social media app or control American data from flowing back to Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), who requires companies to share its data upon request under the country’s 2017 National Intelligence Law.

Heeding warning signs from federal officials, Governor Henry McMaster of South Carolina took action against state employees, alleging the app poses “a clear and present danger to its users,” as a growing bi-partisan coalition in Congress continues to push for a national ban on TikTok.

“Protecting our State’s critical cyber infrastructure from foreign and domestic threats is key to ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of our citizens and businesses,” McMaster wrote in the letter to the state’s Department of Administration Executive Director Marcia Adams.

The Department of Administration carries out standard government functions such as internet services, managing mobile devices, computers, and other online devices at state agencies focusing on cybersecurity.

In his letter to Adams, McMaster requested an accounting of agencies not currently utilizing the shared services, saying several state agencies continue operating in a “silo.”

“I ask that you provide my office with a listing of state agencies for whom the department is unable to permanently block access to TikTok,” he added.

McMaster’s order follows South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who immediately banned state government employees from using the app last week, saying the officials would have “no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us.”

“The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data off the devices that access the platform,” Noem said in a press release.

Other officials in South Dakota have previously sounded the alarm about the harm the app inflicts “garbage content” on American children and students. In contrast, China’s student base has access to educational content.

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher introduced legislation last month to outright ban the app in the U.S., warning that CCP officials use the app “subtly indoctrinate American citizens.”

“TikTok is a major threat to U.S. national security,” the senators said, adding, “unless TikTok and its algorithm can be separated from Beijing, the app’s use in the United States will continue to jeopardize our country’s safety and pave the way for a Chinese-influenced tech landscape here.”

Rubio said that “no company is truly private” in China.

TikTok officials responded to federal officials, saying the company remains confident that it’s on a path to reaching an agreement regarding national security concerns with the federal government.

New NYPD statistics show murder rates and other major crimes increased across New York City in November despite authorities claiming the overall index crime decreased by just over 1% compared to the same time last year.

While the report details crimes like burglary, grand larceny, and cases of rape dropped as much as 14%, other stats show felony assaults were up 3%, robberies jumped by 3.6%, and car thefts jacked up to 9.4%. However, most notably, the police report showed 30 homicides occurred in the city during November, up from 25 in the same month during 2021.

Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said of the report the department has seen “substantial, tangible progress toward our public-safety goals.”

“The women and men of the NYPD have continued to reduce shootings, take illegal guns off our streets, increase arrests to bring justice for crime victims, and improve police-community relationships in every New York City neighborhood,” Sewell said.

The 20% rise in homicide comes as city authorities and officials continue to focus on combatting gun violence, leading to nearly 33% fewer shooting incidents in the Big Apple. Authorities have also cracked down on the proliferation of illegal guns on the streets, leading to gun arrests in New York City hitting a 27-year high, resulting in 6,638 guns seized citywide in 2022.

A law enforcement source told the New York Post that NYPD officials are “throwing everything it has at the crime problem” in the city while stating the link between the gun arrests and fewer shootings is “not coincidental.”

“The question remains — what happens to the shooters? There has to be accountability — the rest of the criminal justice system has to do its job.”

The department said it has focused on the nexus of gang/crew violence, illegal guns, and illicit drugs, leading to a gang takedown in the confines of the Brooklyn neighborhood, which resulted in the indictments of 32 alleged members of two rival street gangs that included charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, weapons possession, and others.

And just below street level in New York City’s subway system, authorities said the department saw approximately a 13% reduction in major crime inside the transit stations and trains for November compared to last year.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently said his “blue surge,” meaning he supplied the city’s subway system with more NYPD officers to patrol the transit areas. Yet, crime figures reported by the Daily Mail between January and October showed at least 2,096 felony crimes were reported — which shows a 34% increase from last year.

Adams said Sunday that the city is “laser-focused” on fighting crime.

“Reducing crime in the city was never going to happen overnight, but thanks to the NYPD’s efforts, major crimes were down in November, and shootings continue to see double-digit decreases,” Adams said.

Adams said his office has begun taking major actions the city hasn’t seen in years to protect residents” until every New Yorker is safe.”

“We will never stop fighting to protect the residents of this city,” Adams added.

Former New York Governor David Paterson, a Democrat who served the state from 2008 to 2010, recently said during a radio show that he’s “never felt as unsafe” when walking around New York City.

“For the first time in my life, even in the late ’80s and ’90s when the crime rate was killing 2,000 people a year, I never felt as unsafe as I do now just walking around,” Paterson told the WABC, according to Newsweek.

Adam’s comments come after a summer of crime waves spurring through the city neighborhoods like the West Village and Greenwich Village, where business owners and residents aired their frustrations over the lack of law and order in a neighborhood that draws celebrity sitings, historic brownstones, and gentrified taquerias on roofs amid the fashion and arts scene.

Crime statistics published by NYPD officials in August compared to the same year’s crime stats, which said Manhattan’s 6th Precinct saw an 80% increase in overall significant crimes, with burglaries up 119% and grand larcenies up more than 100%.