LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer is defending her use of TikTok again as a needed tool to be able to communicate with younger voters and constituents. Currently, Gov. Whitmer’s TikTok account under @biggretchwhitmer has more than 243,000 followers.

In February 2022, CNN’s Jake Tapper questioned Whitmer about her TikTok usage. She said, “Whether we like it or not, that is a tool for disseminating important information, and that’s how we use it.”

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Now she’s in the hot seat again.

Governor pressed on her TikTok usage again in recent interview.

During an interview at the end of December that just got some recent press on the internet, Gov. Whitmer talked with Fox2Detroit’s Tim Skubick on an “Off the Record” segment called “Evening with the Governor 2023.”

The governor was asked once again about her use of TikTok, a social media platform that is owned by the China-based company ByteDance. Although the state of Michigan banned TikTok on government devices in March of 2023, the governor continues to use the platform herself.

The ban is through policy, not law and the Michigan ban was made a short time after the ban of TikTok on federal devices went into effect through part of a spending bill that was signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Why the governor thinks it’s okay to use TikTok.

When questioned about using TikTok, Gov. Whitmer told Skubick, “We don’t have TikTok on government devices…there is a security risk. But we do recognize that there are a lot of people who get their information from TikTok…”

Skubick interrupted her and said, “Yeah, including the communist party.”

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Gov. Whitmer quickly responded by saying, “That’s why we have a device is dedicated simply to TikTok. It’s not attached to any of my personal things. It’s not attached to a state server. And I think we can’t not communicate with a lot of people in this state and in this country and I think that utilizing every platform is really important even though it creates a lot of needs for security.”

Governor’s use of TikTok persists amidst security concerns.

When asked by Skubick if she thinks the “bad guys” are taking information particularly from American children from the platform, Gov. Whitmer said, “I have great concerns about it…”

Skubick interjected by saying, “So there you are on TikTok adding to it…”

Gov. Whitmer has to fight against fake news.

Gov. Whitmer defended herself by saying, “No, I think what we’re doing is using a medium that a lot of people use to disseminate accurate information.”

In addition, Gov. Whitmer pointed to the “fun” content she posts including her “oatmeal bake” video where she demonstrates how to make baked oatmeal. It’s also on YouTube for those of you who don’t have, and don’t want, a TikTok account but might be interested in her baked oatmeal recipe.

She told Skubick the TikTok platform brings people together and can show a human side to people but admits “I think we need some federal action when it comes to ensuring the integrity of all those platforms.”

What about the use of artificial intelligence?

Skubick also asked if Gov. Whitmer has or will in the future use artificial intelligence (AI) as part of her job or personal life. Gov. Whitmer answered, “I think AI has a lot of potential. Positive sides but also some very serious downsides…How it’s going to be deployed and how people are going to oversee it.”

She added, “I haven’t had too much time to play around with ChatGPT yet. I’ve done a little bit. It’s fascinating to think about how it can help make us more productive but how it can be corrupted. I am cautiously optimistic about what AI is going to do in terms of our productivity and solving problems.”

State of state address probably won’t be AI-generated.

When told she could use AI to produce her state of the state address, Gov. Whitmer said it wasn’t something she was thinking about doing and added that she’s not the “tech guru” in her organization.

Sensing some hesitation from the governor about using AI, Skubick pressed her on the issue. She told him that although there are positive aspects to AI, she still has reservations about using it.