The authorities
of the US, and Canada have banned the use of TikTok on
government-issued devices over concerns about privacy and cybersecurity.
The video-sharing app, which is owned by the Beijing-based
ByteDance, has denied wrongdoing and maintained that it does not share data
with the Chinese government.
Despite its denial, a number of countries have decided to
ban it either totally or partially.
United States
According to a report published on Wednesday on Reuters, the US house foreign affairs committee
approved a bill to ban the Chinese-owned app.
Lawmakers voted 24 to 16 to suspend the app which is used by
over 100 million Americans.
“TikTok is a national security threat … It is time to act,”
said Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the committee who sponsored the
bill.
“Anyone with TikTok
downloaded on their device has given the CCP (Communist Party of China) a
backdoor to all their personal information. It’s a spy balloon into their
phone.”
Canada
BBC reported
that the Canadian government banned the app from all government-issued devices
and blocked it from future downloads.
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, said there was
enough concern about security around the app to require the change.
“This may be the
first step, this may be the only step we need to take,” he said on Monday.
Mona Fortier, the president of Canada’s Treasury Board, said
the government “is committed to keeping government information secure.”
“On a mobile device, TikTok’s data collection methods
provide considerable access to the contents of the phone. While the risks of
using this application are clear, we have no evidence at this point that
government information has been compromised,” she said.
European Union
In a statement dated
February 23 and released by the European Commission, the use of TikTok has been
suspended on “corporate devices” used by its staff, as well as “personal
devices” that can be connected to its mobile service.
“To increase its cybersecurity, the Commission’s Corporate
Management Board has decided to suspend the use of the TikTok application on
its corporate devices and on personal devices enrolled in the Commission mobile
device service,” the statement reads.
“This measure aims to protect the Commission against
cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyber-attacks
against the corporate environment of the Commission. The security developments
of other social media platforms will also be kept under constant review.”
The ban for European Commission employees is set to come
into force on March 15.
India
In 2020, BBC reported
that India’s government banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps.
The Indian authorities said the apps were “prejudicial to
sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and
public order”.
Taiwan
In December 2022, Reuters reported that Taiwan’s government
opened an investigation into TikTok over “illegal commercial operations.”
Reacting to this in an emailed statement to Reuters,
ByteDance said the company has not established any legal entities in
Taiwan.
“Taiwan prohibits a wide range of Chinese business
operations and has already banned government departments from using Chinese
apps such as TikTok, the council added.
Another report also confirmed that Taiwan imposed a
public sector ban on TikTok after being warned that the video-sharing platform
posed a national security risk.
Afghanistan
In April 2022, BBC reported
that the Taliban, Afghanistan’s militant group, banned TikTok for leading the
country’s youths “astray”.
According to Inamullah Samangani, Taliban spokesman,
the ban was necessary to “prevent the younger generation from being
misled”.
EXTRA: Pakistan lifts ban on TikTok for the fourth time
In November 2021, a report by AP showed that Pakistan Telecommunication
Authority has banned TikTok four times in the country since the first time in
October 2020.
The Pakistani regulatory agency said the sanction is a
result of complaints about allegedly “immoral, obscene and vulgar” content on
the app.
The ban was later lifted after TokTok pledged to moderate
content in adherence to local laws.
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