State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley on Tuesday urged public schools and school systems to remove the video sharing app TikTok from public devices amid concerns that it is allowing the Chinese government to gain access to private information.
Brumley noted that TikTok is owned by ByteDance Limited, a Chinese firm.
"TikTok's lack of data privacy measures are extremely concerning," he said in a memo to school leaders.
"For example, various reports have highlighted the lack of safeguards in place to prevent foreign governments from gaining access to private information stored on users' mobile devices," Brumley wrote.
"Therefore, I am advising schools and school systems to immediately remove TikTok or any other applications developed by ByteDance Limited from any publicly-funded devices," he said.
"Further, I am recommending that TikTok be eliminated as a communication outlet for school systems and schools, including co-curricular clubs, extracurricular organizations and sports teams."
Other state leaders have taken similar steps.
Last month Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne banned TikTok traffic on all networks managed by the state Office of Technology Services.
That includes agencies under the governor and includes both agency-owned phones and laptops as well as personal devices while they are connected to state wireless networks.
Earlier Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin banned TikTok on all devices issued by his agency.