On Thursday (16), the United Kingdom announced an immediate ban on TikTok on government devices, citing security concerns.
“We will ban the use of TikTok on government machines” “with immediate effect,” Oliver Dowden, the foreign secretary, whose department also has responsibility for cyber security issues, told Parliament.
The app, through which you can share short videos, is very popular among youngsters. However, its critics warn that Chinese authorities have access to its users’ data around the world, which TikTok denies.
It is, in the minister’s words, a “precautionary” measure.
He added, “We know there is already limited use of TikTok within government, but this is good cyber hygiene.”
He claimed that “given the particular risks posed to government agencies, which may contain sensitive information, it is prudent and proportionate to restrict the use of certain applications”, particularly those that can access and store “a large amount of data”.
The United States, Canada and the European Union have taken similar measures.
On Thursday, China urged the US to end “unprovoked attacks” on TikTok after the US government told the company to separate from Chinese parent company ByteDance to avoid being banned from the country. The claim is the same: national security issues.
“The United States has so far not provided any evidence that TikTok threatens the national security of the United States,” Chinese diplomatic spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters.
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